Overcoming The Blow
by crbmyenthusiasm
Summary: “Hmmm,” she uttered, looking a million miles away. “The beginning... when I was just the girl next door, when Sam was actually happy, when Derek and Casey hated each other...”
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So, this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter LWD story. This story is _very _loosely based on the Jim Croce song "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)." This isn't beta-ed, so, yeah.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD or the song.

**This is dedicated to argentenipinkini, for encouraging me to do something longer than a one-shot. **

OOOOOOOO

They heard the familiar tune as soon as they entered the house. Jim Croce's voice wafted around them, singing the words that over time, had become ingrained into their minds: "Operator, oh could you help me place this call? You see, the number on the matchbook is old and faded . . ."

The smiles that had been etched upon their faces since the final bell had rung proclaiming the start of the weekend, instantly disappeared. Lauren's throat began to close, along with her eyes, as she desperately tried to keep the tears that had sprung to her eyes from falling. Her twin's reaction was entirely different; clenching his fists, Tony started off in the direction of his father's den. He was determined to put an end to what he considered to be nonsense. Before he made it two feet, he was intercepted by his mother.

"You know better than to bother your father while he's playing that song, Tony," his mother said with a frown.

"What brought it on this time?" Lauren asked in a small voice, even as she thought to herself, _'Do I even want to know?'_

"Today would've been their anniversary," she responded, with a calmness she didn't really feel.

Tony couldn't prevent his eyes from rolling. "Anniversary?" he scoffed. "They weren't even ever married, she left him—it was like forever ago."

"Quiet down, before he hears you," his mother scolded.

His eyes were rolling again. "How could he hear me over that song?" he sneered. Turning eyes filled with a mixture of pity and disgust on his mother, Tony proceeded to tell her exactly how he felt. "Why do you let him do this? Don't you care that your husband is in his den, probably crying over a woman that's not you?"

"Of course I care," she snapped, ignoring her watering eyes. "I care that I'm not enough for your father, I care that he can't let go of the past. And," she began, chest heaving, "I really care that he's still in love with some witch, who not only broke his heart, but mine too."

When her children just eyed her with confusion, she sighed.

"He wasn't the only person who lost someone." When they still didn't seem to understand she elaborated, "The jerk she ran off with was my fiancé."

"What?" her children cried out in unison.

"And, she was my best friend."

" "What?!" ".

Tony was the first to recover enough to speak. "Then how come you don't act like him, closing yourself off from your family, acting like we're not enough?"

"Because, I didn't love my ex quite like your father loved, loves," she corrected herself, "his ex. Over the years I was able to fall completely in love with your dad," their mother explained.

Lauren was shaking her head back and forth, mouth opening and closing, trying to understand everything she was hearing.

"How _did_ you love him?" Lauren asked, rubbing her hands over her face. "Please mom, I think we're old enough to know everything that happened."

"Lauren's right," Tony said, picking up his sister's cause. "We deserve, in fact, we need to know everything that happened. And, please, stop referring to them as 'him' and 'her' or 'the jerk' and 'the witch'; I want to know the names of the people who are breaking up my parent's marriage."

"Hey," their mother said sharply, "nobody's marriage is 'breaking up.' But," she sighed, "If you really want to know what happened all those years ago, I'll tell you. Jesus," she swore, running a shaky hand through her curly locks, "I don't even know where to start."

"Just start at the beginning, mom," Tony said, awkwardly patting her arm.

"Hmmm," she uttered, looking a million miles away. "The beginning . . . when I was just the girl next door, when Sam was actually happy, when Derek and Casey hated each other . . ."

**TBC**

**A/N: **This was just the like a prologue, that's why it's so short; the following chapters will be longer. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them, 'cause this seemed confusing/weird to me while I was typing it.

**Reviews Are Always Welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I don't really have anything to say about the story, but if anybody wants to see something funny, you should go to youtube and do a search for "thriller wedding videos." Oh, flashbacks are in italics. This isn't beta-ed, so, okay.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD or the song lyrics.

OOOOOOOO

_She's living In L.A., with my best old ex-friend, Ray. _

_A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated . . ._

"The first thing you have to understand is," Emily said to her children, "that Derek and Casey hated each other from the time she moved in."

"I'm sorry," Lauren said, drawing her eyebrows together in confusion. "You've lost me already. Why would they move in together if they hated each other?"

Emily thought about lying for a moment; she wasn't sure how her children would react to finding out that Casey and Derek were related, even if it was only through marriage. But, she ultimately decided that they were old enough to know the complete truth. Anything she knew, they too would know.

"Well, when we were sophomores in high school Derek's father married Casey's mother, and Casey along with her younger sister, Lizzie and her mother moved into the Venturi house," Emily explained.

Tony grimaced. "So let me get this straight, dad's fiancé left him to marry your fiancé, who just happened to be her brother? Here I thought we were in Canada, turn out we're on the set of _Deliverance_."

"Step-brother," his mother automatically corrected. "Do you want to hear the story, or are you going to harp on about the fact that they were kind of related?"

"Can I 'harp on' about it for a minute?" he asked cheekily. "That is so creepy. It'd be like me trying to marry Ren." He shuddered at the thought.

"Right, sans the blood-relation factor," Lauren said with a smile. However, she lost the smile when she noticed the expression on her mother's face—Emily was not amused. "Sorry mom, please continue."

"Well, when I met Casey we became fast friends. I began to spend a lot of time at the Venturi house, when I hadn't actually been inside it for years."

"That's weird, I mean, I'm assuming you and Derek were neighbors for a long time . . ."

"I lived next door to him throughout my entire childhood," she confirmed.

"So you guys weren't friends, you never hung out, or anything?" Lauren asked, finishing her thought.

"We didn't exactly run in the same circles," Emily said, shrugging. "He was the hockey playing, leather jacket wearing player, who could get any girl he wanted. And I"—Emily paused, hating the way the past still impacted her life. She had not been happy during her sophomore year, and the feelings of social inadequacy that she thought she had long left behind felt way too fresh as she discussed her past with her children. "And, I was the socially challenged, obsessive, unsuccessful social climber who followed him around hoping for a pity glance," she said, sighing.

"Jeez, mom, don't hold anything back on our account," Tony said, sarcasm fairly dripping from his words.

Ignoring Tony's comment, Emily continued with her story. "You know, your father was always over their house too. He may have been Derek's best friend, but he was over so much because he liked Casey just as much as I liked Derek."

"Derek was okay with his friend liking his sister?" Eric asked in disbelief. "I wish one of my friends would look at Lauren the wrong way, they'd catch the beating of their life. Sisters are off limits, it's like a code."

"Funny," Emily remarked, sporting her first genuine smile of the day, "That's pretty much what Derek said when he found out Sam liked Casey. He _really_ didn't want them together. He and Sam even got into a fight about it once."

"Really?" Ren questioned. Trying to imagine her father in a fight was like trying to imagine him robbing a bank—impossible. "Was that your first hint that Derek and Casey liked each other?"

"It was years before either us, or them, realized that," Emily answered shaking her head. "Besides, I really don't think Derek and Casey could stand each other back then. All they ever did was fight."

"_Ewww Derek," Casey said, grimacing, "go put on a shirt, nobody wants to see that."_

"_Really?" he questioned, smirking. "I can name dozens of girls who would kill to see me like this," he replied, as he flopped down in his recliner. _

"_Idiots, obviously," Casey retorted._

"_Well, they're not all idiots, don't you agree Emily?" he asked looking at her for the first time since he had entered the living room. _

_Emily about fainted on the spot. Derek was never the first to strike up a conversation, if they ever spoke at all it was her asking senseless questions and then dragging one-word answers out of him. For Derek to ask for her opinion as if what she thought actually mattered to him was almost too much for her to bear. _

_Blushing furiously, Emily somehow managed to stumble out, "Yeah, they're not all idiots."_

"_Oh, please, she is only agreeing with you because she likes"—a frantic look from Emily, had Casey remembering not to spill Emily's not-so-secret, secret—"to be obstinate when it comes to agreeing with me."_

_Emily's eyes rolled at Casey's lame attempt at a save. _

_Derek missed the look that flitted across Emily's face, but he did not miss the chance to mess with Casey._

"_And, you're only disagreeing with me so you can throw around five hundred dollar words, like 'obstinate.'"_

_The dig had Casey's eyes narrowing. "If you don't quit bothering me, I'm gonna start throwing punches instead of words."_

"_You had better start making a list of how you're going to punch me; Lord knows you're too anal to do anything without thoroughly planning it out first." He continued talking, now using his best 'Casey' voice, "step one: ball my hand into a fist, step two: march up to Derek, step three: swing fist in Derek's general direction and pray that a miracle occurs and it connects with the target, step four:"_

_He was interrupted by an irate Casey. "Shut up! You are so not funny."_

"_Really?" he questioned, gesturing towards Emily who seemed to be trying extremely hard not to laugh. "Because, I think Emily might disagree with you. Or, is she just being 'obstinate' again?"_

_Casey was spared from having to respond by the ringing of the doorbell. Waiting for Derek to answer would have been a wait in vain, so she got up and answered it herself. When she opened the door she was greeted by Sam; they stood making googly eyes at each other until a gagging noise from Derek interrupted their staring contest. _

"_Would you two cut that out before I throw up," he said in disgust. "Casey, move your big butt out of the way so Sam can come in. And, Sam, stop trying to look at Casey's butt and come in the damn house," Derek snapped._

_Casey blushed and made her way to the couch, slapping Derek on the back of the head along the way. "My butt is not big."_

"_Sure it isn't," he agreed, sarcastically._

"_God, Derek, what exactly is your problem?"_

"_My problem?" he echoed. "I don't have a problem. Now you, I could go on for days listing your problems." He began ticking off points on his fingers. "You're bossy, uptight, you have a princess complex, you're stuck-up, moody, funny look—_

_Casey interrupted him by throwing a pillow at his head. "I know you are not trying to call anybody out," Casey said in disbelief. "Don't you think that's a little nervy for someone who had to repeat the first grade?" _

"_Does dishing out the same tired insult ever get old?"_

"_Does being a jackass ever get old?" Casey countered._

"_I know you two fighting all the time gets old," Emily chimed in._

"_For real though," Sam said, nodding his head in agreement._

_Emily knew that Casey felt totally justified in arguing with Derek, and if Emily was honest with herself, she thought Casey was justified too. But, that didn't mean that she wanted to hear them argue all the time._

_Casey sighed, before asking in resignation, "Temporary truce?"_

_Derek popped the collar of his polo shirt. "I don't do truces, temporary or otherwise," he answered, without even bothering to look at her. _

"_Well," Sam said, standing, "this is going to go on record as the world's shortest visit."_

"_Dude?" Derek questioned, eyebrows drawing together._

"_I didn't come over to hear you two trade insults, if that's how it's gonna be I'll just go home." _

"_I agree with Sam," Emily said, standing up to join him. "This constant bickering has got to stop."_

"_But guys," Derek implored, "look at her, she's such an easy target."_

_Casey's eyes narrowed, but she refrained from commenting._

_Emily and Sam shared a look before heading towards the front door. _

_When Derek heard the click of the doorknob turning he spoke up. "Okay, okay," he gave in grumbling. "We can call a truce, but only for today."_

"_Great," Emily and Sam said simultaneously, both choosing to ignore the part about the truce only being temporary._

_After returning to their seats, they each turned and looked expectantly at their respective friend._

"_So, what are we going to do?"_

_When a minute passed without a reply from Derek or Casey, Emily and Sam wore matching looks of confusion._

"_Umm, hello?" Is there a reason you guys won't answer?" Emily asked, puzzled._

_Derek shrugged. "If we can't argue, it's really going to limit the amount of talking we can do," Derek answered, frankly. _

"So, you guys just sat there?" Ren inquired.

"Pretty much; eventually Sam put on _Goodfellas_ and that distracted us for awhile."

"Jeez, Derek sounds like an ass," Tony said, earning him a frown from his mother for swearing. "How desperate was Casey to go with a guy like that?"

"Hey," Emily said, offended, "I went with him."

"Yeah, but he wasn't constantly insulting you, was he?"

"No, and after a while, he wasn't constantly insulting Casey either. "At least, if they did trade insults, it had become more playful than spiteful."

"So, when did they start to get along? What caused it?" Ren asked.

"I'm not sure what caused it," Emily answered, shrugging her shoulders. "But, I do remember the first time I noticed that they were getting along."

**TBC . . . **

**A/N: **Let me know if anything was confusing or weird.I don't really have anything else to say, so I'll just encourage you to listen to the Jim Croce song and watch the Thriller videos.

**Reviews Are Always Welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Flashbacks are in italics. I made up the history teacher's name. This isn't beta-ed.

**Disclaimer: **Guess who owns LWD . . . go ahead, guess. I'll give you a hint, it's not me.

OOOOOOOO

Emily readjusted herself on the couch trying to get comfortable, since apparently this story was going to go on for awhile.

"Okay," Emily began, "you know how I told you that I was unpopular?" She waited for her children's heads to nod before continuing. "Well, take my unpopularity, raise it to the tenth power, and you'll get Casey. She was clumsy and a brain, two things that can make high school very hard."

"Derek never helped her out?" Lauren questioned, incredulously. "I mean, he was running the school, right?" She and Tony may not have been best friends, but she knew he would never let her go around being made fun of.

"That's what I'm getting to," Emily explained. "Sure, Derek had helped Casey out a few times, but it was never that big of a deal. When he had helped her in the past it was always real low key," she paused a moment, searching for the right words, "like he didn't want anyone to know he was capable of being nice. Plus, there was the fact that he just didn't seem to like helping her."

Tony shook his head back and forth, eyes closed, mouth turned down in a frown. "I said it before and I'll say it again, Derek was an ass. Brothers have one job: to protect their sisters; step-sisters count."

Emily looked over at her son, full of parental indignation, ready to discipline him for swearing. However, a reprimand never came out; instead she was overcome with a fit of giggles.

Emily was clutching her stomach and her eyes were watering as she giggled like a maniac.

The twins shared a look, both wondering if their mother was hysterical.

"Uh, mom?" Lauren asked, worry lacing her voice.

Emily sighed as she reigned in her emotions. "I'm sorry, it's just, Tony's right; Derek was an ass. In fact, Derek Venturi _is_ the biggest ass I've ever met in my life," she said, giving another giggle.

"Okay," her children drew out simultaneously, still slightly worried.

"Woo," she said, blowing out a huge breath, "I needed that."

"Glad I could help," Tony said wryly.

"Now that we've established what an enormous ass Derek was," Emily said, stifling another laugh, "you can understand why Derek helping Casey, especially in front of a large crowd, in a situation where he could get in trouble or hurt, was such a big deal."

_Walking out of the history room with Emily at her side, Casey gave an enthusiastic squeal as she glanced at the paper in her hand. "Ms. McGee was really nice about changing our grade, don't you think?" _

"_Sure," Emily agreed, in an uncharacteristically subdued voice. She was hoping to avoid drawing any attention to their conversation._

_It wasn't hard for Casey to notice the passive note in Emily's voice. Stopping, Casey turned to face her best friend. "Come on Em, you should be just as happy about this as I am; it was your paper too."_

"_Casey, it's not like it made that big of a difference—we had an 'A' before, and we have one now."_

"_True, but now we have a plus to go along with our 'A,'" she said, smiling._

_Emily let out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "I thought we moved past your grade grubbing days last year. We've been over this a thousand times; behavior like that doesn't help us."_

_Casey shrugged off Emily's attempt to make her feel guilty. "Sorry Em, but at heart I'm just a grade grubber; I want to get the grades I deserve. Cheer up," Casey began happily, with a big smile on her face, "as a result of my efforts we now have an 'A+,' and we're the only people who know I had to grub to get it."_

"_Well, I guess its okay, as long as nobody knows you grubbed," Emily said, grudgingly giving in._

"_Who would know?"_

"_We do," a male voice said clearly._

_Turning around, Casey and Emily were met with Jay, the guy who had christened her a 'grade grubber' in the first place, and his two peons, Carter and Will. _

_Casey stood tall, looking ready for a confrontation. But, Emily shrunk back and leaned against a nearby locker with a look of complete displeasure upon her face. Emily didn't need this type of attention and she certainly didn't want it. _

_With hands upon hips and a fake smile pasted on her face, Casey asked, "And, what do you want, a cookie?"_

"_No," Jay answered, with a mock-laugh. "But, I will take this," he said, as he reached over and plucked the prized paper out of her hands._

"_Hey, give that back!"_

"_Sure, I'll get right on that," he said, as he tossed the newly balled up paper to Carter, making it clear that he had no intention of returning it to her._

_Casey lunged at Carter, but he side-stepped her at the last second and tossed the makeshift ball to Will. The boys kept that going for a few minutes—dangling the ball in front of Casey's face, then throwing it just out of her reach._

_When Casey glanced around and noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle, she immediately stopped darting back and forth between the boys. She glanced at Emily, looking for a sign, or something, but her friend wouldn't make eye contact—in fact, Emily looked like she wished the floor would open up and swallow her. _

_As a watery eyed Casey bent down to pick up her book bag and purse that had been dropped during the semi-scuffle, Emily was surprised to notice the once loudly instigating crowd quiet down. Looking away from Casey's hunched form to find the reason for her their subdued behavior, Emily was surprised to see not a teacher, but Derek making his way determinedly towards them. _

_Emily eyes lit up once they fell on Derek, and she gave him a sunny smile, but he didn't even seem to notice. Instead, he went straight to Casey, kneeled in front of her and gripped her arms to pull her up._

_Casey said his name, but not like she usually did—her voice was soft and questioning, not loud and angry. It was almost as if she was relieved to see him, and Emily couldn't fathom why. It wasn't as if Derek was known to play the hero._

_For his part, Derek simply nodded at Casey, while his eyes gave her a quick once over. He seemed to be making sure she was alright, which was even weirder to Emily than Casey being happy to see him. Caring was a foreign concept to Derek, so it was hard to understand why he was helping anyone, especially his arch nemesis up from the floor._

"Wait, that's it? He helped her up and you automatically knew things between them had changed forever?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Jeez, impatient much?" Emily asked, sounding much like she had as a teenager. "No, that's not it. I wasn't done; I was pausing for dramatic effect."

"Oh, okay."

_Emily's eyes left her crush to scan the faces of the crowd. She was reassured to see people turning to their friends, exchanging curious looks—it was good to know that she wasn't the only one who thought that what she was witnessing was a little strange. _

_She was snapped out of her observations when she became aware of Derek easing Casey against the locker beside her. The questioning look she sent Casey was met with only a shoulder shrug. Emily rolled her eyes at Casey's lack of an explanation and turned to focus on Derek again as he approached Jay._

"_So, Jay, what's going on?" Derek asked, trademark smirk back in place._

_Jay visibly relaxed once he saw Derek's trademark smirk. Like most of his peers he had a very real fear of Derek and the damage he could inflict both physically and socially. Jay wasn't a wimp or unpopular, but although Derek was only a junior, there was no guy in the school who could match him in toughness or coolness._

"_You know how it is man, just having a little fun with the grade grubber," he responded, gesturing to a narrowed eyed Casey._

"_Really?" he asked lazily. "Let me see," he demanded, rather than asked, motioning towards the paper._

_When Jay tossed it to him, Derek caught it effortlessly. Taking a moment to un-ball the paper, Derek gave a very small, almost unnoticeable smile as he scanned the bottom of the last page and caught sight of the paper's grade. _

"_Heads up," Derek called out to Casey, before tossing her the paper._

_While Derek was focused on Casey, Jay made to leave, but Derek's arm shot out, grabbing him by the shoulder to hold him in place._

_Jay gulped, but to his credit, his voice remained calm when he asked, "What's up?"_

_Derek grinned. "You're in Casey's history class, right?" When Jay nodded, Derek continued speaking. "What did you get on your paper?"_

_Jay turned bright red, but didn't respond. His face had gone from looking mildly uncomfortable to miserable, in a matter of seconds. _

"_Jay, that wasn't a rhetorical question; I expect an answer," Derek said, squeezing Jay's shoulder, hard. _

_Emily's eyes blinked at Derek's use of 'rhetorical'; apparently the day was going to be full of surprises._

"_Don't make me ask again," Derek warned._

"_Sixty-nine," Jay mumbled._

"_What was that? Speak loud enough for everyone to hear; you sure didn't mind having a crowd earlier, so don't be shy now."_

"_I got a sixty-nine," he repeated, this time in a voice that rang out loud and clear. _

"_And, what did Casey get? I know you know, seeing as how you were keeping her paper safe for her," Derek said, still smiling._

"_She got a hundred."_

"_So," Derek said, rubbing his chin as if he was deep in thought, "you got a sixty-nine and my sister got a perfect score? Is that why you took her paper, you felt bad about being an idiot, so you wanted her to feel bad too?" Derek guessed, sounding incredibly unlike himself. _

_Emily was trying to keep up, but she was still stuck on Derek using the word sister; she had never heard him utter that word in reference to Casey. Marti, sure, even Lizzie, but everyone knew he didn't think of Casey that way._

_Jay didn't answer, but Derek nodded anyway. "You don't have to tell me, I know that's what you were doing. Well guess what," Derek said, finally removing his hand from Jay's shoulder, "when people mess with Casey I feel bad. Now, I bet you're wondering what I do to make myself feel better, so I'll tell you."_

_Derek punched him, sending Jay crashing back into the lockers. "Second thought," Derek said, flexing his hand, "maybe I'll just show you."_

_This was too much for Emily. Derek punching bullies, saying he didn't like for people to bother Casey, when he had spent everyday he had known her trying to make her life a living hell—Emily felt like she was in the twilight zone. _

_Beside Emily, Casey had shot herself off the locker she was leaning against as soon as Derek had punched Jay. _

"_Derek, don't hit him."_

"_Why? He likes to bully girls, let's see how tough he is when it's a guy."_

"_Derek," Casey said, voice softer, as she lightly placed her hand on his leather-clad shoulder, "don't." _

_Derek narrowed his eyes at her, but he took a step back from Jay. _

"_Apologize," Derek spat at Jay._

_Jay may have been covering half his face, trying to stem the blood that was flowing from his quickly swelling nose, but it was impossible to mistake the "I'm sorry, Casey," that escaped his lips. _

_Casey nodded her acceptance and motioned for him to leave, but Derek's voice held him in place. _

"_Mess with my sister again, and even she won't be able to save your ass," Derek promised._

_Jay nodded and began walking down the hall, followed closely, and nervously, by Carter and Will._

_The thirty or so students who had stuck around to watch were torn; they didn't seem to know what to make of what they had just witnessed. Emily was no exception, she wanted to run up to Casey and Derek and begin asking questions, but at the same time she just wanted to think. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Principal Laceter made the decision for her._

"_I don't know why you all are all still here," the principal said, from his position at the other end of the hallway. "And, because it's Friday, and I would like to go home too, I don't really care." He glanced at his watch. "Now, I'm going to hold the buses for one more minute, so anybody who is not on the buses better have on their walking shoes."_

_The principal's speech was effective in clearing the halls. _

_When he finished talking, Emily looked over to where Casey and Derek had just been standing, but they were nowhere to be seen. Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, Emily headed for the exit, hoping that she would be able to catch the bus. _

"So, that's it?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Emily said, staring at her son, wondering how he could be so unmoved.

"Besides the fact that Derek was finally acting like a real brother, what's the big deal?"

Emily sighed; she always had trouble explaining the significance of the 'junior year incident,' as she called it, to people. "Maybe you can't understand it because you weren't there, but it was a big deal. Derek was a jerk, he didn't help anyone. And, you can drop the 'sister' argument; I don't care how many times he called her his sister, he did not think of her like that."

The twins exchanged a worried look at the forceful note in their mother's voice.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't know if they were together then, or not, but something had changed, and I just refuse to believe that overnight she became his little sister who could do no wrong," she said, sounding frustrated.

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a little far fetched," Tony said, giving in, while his sister nodded her head in agreement.

"I just wish I knew what had happened between them to change things," Emily said, quietly.

"Who knows, maybe one day you'll find out," Tony said, more to himself than his mother.

Lauren eyed her brother strangely, but didn't get a chance to further explore his comment, because a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, where was daddy when those guys were messing with Casey?"

"Oh, um, I think he was out sick that week, strep throat, or something," their mother explained. "If he had been there, who knows what might have happened," she said, voicing a thought she had often spent hours exploring.

Tony didn't like the path the conversation was taking; he didn't want his mom turning wistful like his father. "If your junior year was when Casey's and Derek's relationship changed, is that when he started paying attention to you?"

Emily snorted. "Please, Derek didn't throw me a second glance until our senior year," she said tartly, but she was unable to hold the smile back as she thought of the year she finally got the boy she had been dreaming of since she was five.

**TBC**

**A/N**: The whole everyone sticking around after school to watch a fight, then the principal letting them go because it was Friday scenario, may seem a little far fetched, but it happened once at my school, so it's not impossible.

I know Derek was a little OOC in this chapter, but it went along with the plot.

Let me know if anything was confusing. Oh, I didn't know how to spell the principal's name, so I took a shot.

**Reviews Are Welcome**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Flashbacks are in italics. This isn't beta-ed.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing involved with LWD.

OOOOOOOO

Tony and Lauren watched their mother intently, impatience clearly etched on their faces. Emily had called a 'mini intermission' about ten minutes earlier; apparently she needed a cup of ice tea and a couple of windmill cookies before she could continue her story.

Tony couldn't take it anymore, this story was too important to his family for his mother to be taking breaks. Setting down his own cookie, he gave an obviously fake cough.

His second coughing fit was loud enough to take Emily's attention away from her self-inflicted foot rub.

"Do you need something? Water? A cough drop?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"No, what I need is for you to continue the story."

"You try wearing stiletto pumps all day," she said, defending her break.

"No, thanks," he snipped.

Emily put on her 'I'm your mother, so don't sass me' face, but Lauren stepped in before her mother got so off track that they never got to hear the rest of the story.

"Come on mom, please tell us how you and Derek first got together, please," she pleaded.

Emily glanced at her neglected feet before sighing. "Fine. But, it's not even that interesting."

_Hearing Dimi's trademark knock on her bedroom door, Emily yelled, "I'm busy," without even looking up from filing her nails. _

_Disregarding her words, Dimi let himself in. _

"_What are you doing?"_

"_What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked him, irritated. _

"_Filing your nails," he answered simply._

_Emily rolled her eyes. "If you knew, why'd you ask?"_

_Dimi ignored her question, choosing instead to rifle through the stuff on her dresser. Finding a blank DVD case, he held it up. "What movie is this?"_

"_It's not a movie," her voice was laced with the kind of know-it-all superiority that only an older sister can possess. "It's this new innovative workout program."_

"_Why do you need to workout?"_

_Emily's face softened at his unwitting compliment, before answering. "My butt's fat," she admitted, after all, it was only her brother._

"_Oh," he said, before returning to going through her things. _

_Emily was about to tell him to leave her stuff alone, when she noticed something bulging out of his jacket. "Hey, what's in your pocket?"_

"_The telephone," he responded lazily, as if carrying around the house phone in his pocket was the most normal thing in the world._

"_Okay . . . why is the phone in your pocket?"_

"'_Cause, I was bringing it to you."_

"_Why?" she asked, voice strained, wishing he would get to the point. _

_Dimi looked at her as if she was stupid. "Because, you got a call," he said slowly. "Some boy's on the phone for you."_

_Emily sprung up from her seat. "But, I didn't hear it ring."_

"_It didn't ring, Dad clicked over while he was talking to Aunt Tina," he explained._

"_Whatever, just give me the phone and get out!" she said, simultaneously snatching the phone and pushing him out the door. _

"_Hello," she greeted, as she inwardly prayed that whoever was on the phone hadn't heard her and Dimi's conversation. 'How embarrassing would that be?'_

"_Hello?" she repeated, taking a seat on her bed._

"_Hey Emily, it's Derek."_

_She dropped the phone in surprise. Derek hadn't called her since that week in eighth grade when he needed her to bring him his assignments because he had mono. She felt dangerously close to fainting, but she pulled it together enough to drop down to the floor and scramble to pick up the phone._

"_Derek?" She was praying that he was still there._

"_Yeah, I'm here. What happened?"_

"_Oh, I uh dropped the phone," she mumbled sheepishly. "Anyways, what's up?" she asked, trying to sound cool. _

"_Nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out or something."_

_There went her phone again._

_Picking up the phone, she took a calming breath before speaking. "Really? Like, when?"_

"_I don't know, how about now," he suggested._

"_Oh, okay," she said, attempting to sound nonchalant. "I'll be over in a few."_

"_Cool. See ya soon." _

"_Yeah, see ya," she said, before clicking off the phone. _

_Emily threw the phone on her bed and stood stock still for a minute. All of a sudden she jumped on her bed and started doing the cabbage patch._

_Hearing the commotion, Dimi let himself back into her room. _

"_I don't get it, how does moving your arms like that make your butt smaller?" _

_Rather than answer, Emily leaped off her bed and wrapped her brother up in a bear hug. _

"_Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing me the phone."_

"_Uh, you're welcome," he mumbled against her shoulder._

_Setting him down, Emily glanced in the mirror, ran a hand though her hair, and then bolted out the door._

"_Hey, where are you going?" Dimi shouted._

"_I have a date with destiny," she called back, already halfway down the steps._

"_Oh. Wait, who's Destiny?"_

_OOOOOOOO_

"_Hey Derek," Emily greeted, when he opened the door._

"_Hey. You got here quick; I like that," he said, with the same flirty voice he always used with girls, but never with Emily._

_The phone call, the flirting, this was shaping up to be the best day of Emily's life. But, her happy thoughts were interrupted by another, more unexpected greeting._

"_Hey Em," Casey greeted, as she and Sam came down the stairs. "Were we supposed to hand out tonight," she asked, clearly confused as to why Emily was at her house._

"_Actually, I invited her over," Derek answered for Emily while tossing a casual arm around her shoulders. _

_Derek and Casey stared at each other for a tense moment, while Sam and Emily looked on in confusion. _

_Casey was the first to break eye contact. Turning her attention to Emily, she said, "Em, I need to—_

"_So, what are you two doing tonight?" Emily interrupted her, hoping to avoid a lecture on Derek's evils and a warning that he was just using her again. The fact was, Emily didn't care if he was using her. This may be her only chance to win him over and nobody was going to ruin it for her, not even Casey._

"_We were just gonna watch a movie," Sam responded._

"_What a coincidence, so are we," Derek said._

"_We are?" Emily questioned, eyebrows drawing together in puzzlement. _

"_You are?" Casey echoed, eyes narrowing. "My, that is a coincidence," she agreed mockingly. _

"_That's cool, me and Casey can go hang at my house instead."_

"_No!" Derek snapped. _

_When Sam and Emily eyed him strangely, he shrugged, regaining his composure. _

"_I mean, we're all friends, right? We can just watch a movie together."_

_Sam looked like he wanted to protest, but a look from Derek had his shoulders slumping in defeat. Grabbing Casey by the hand, he led her over to the couch and they sat down. Derek and Emily soon followed suit._

_When five minutes passed in silence without anyone speaking, or moving, for that matter, Emily rolled her eyes. "Why does this feel familiar?"_

"_Are one of you gonna put a movie in, or what?" Sam questioned, looking back and forth between Derek and Casey._

_Casey cut her eyes at Derek, who just smirked in return._

"_Okay," Sam said, noticing their exchange. "Why don't we just watch whatever is already in the DVD player," he suggested. When nobody protested, he grabbed the remote and pressed play._

"_Oh, god, anything but this," Casey complained as the opening credits rolled across the screen._

"_Come on baby, you might like it."_

_Casey was about to say something smart, but when she caught Derek's eye she smiled and leaned into Sam. "I'll try Sammy, but only 'cause you asked me," she said, voice sweet as pie._

_Emily was catching a really weird vibe from Derek and Casey, but she figured they were just fighting again. Sure, they may have been getting along better since that incident in the hall at school last year, sometimes they were even chummy, but to Emily their relationship was stranger than ever. They still fought, but sometimes it was like their hearts weren't in it—occasionally, the fighting even seemed forced. But, there were times, like now, when it seemed completely real. Emily was trying to remember what Derek had done to Casey lately . . . 'Maybe,' she thought, 'she's still mad about the pudding incident.'_

_For the second time since she had entered the Venturi house, Emily's thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted. Sliding the arm that was resting along her shoulders down her back and around her waist, Derek pulled her onto his lap. _

"_You comfortable?" he asked, bringing his other arm around to circle her waist, so that she was loosely locked in his grasp._

"_Mmm hmm," was all she could get out, she was so overwhelmed. _

"_What's wrong, Casey?" Sam asked, in response to how stiff she had suddenly become._

"_Nothing. I just don't feel too well," she said, rubbing her head. _

"_That's too bad," Derek commented, tightening his hold on Emily._

_OOOOOOOO_

_By the time the movie was over Emily had come to two conclusions: Scarface was the most overrated movie ever, and Derek's lap was quite possibly the most wonderful place in the world. _

_When Derek stopped the movie, Sam got up, stretching. _

"_I guess I should get home, it's my night to do the dishes."_

"_Wait, don't you need my math notes?" Casey reminded._

"_Oh, yeah," he said, following her to the stairs._

_After Sam and Casey disappeared up the steps, Emily reluctantly removed herself from Derek's lap._

"_I guess I should leave too; every night is my dish night."_

"_Here, I'll walk you to the door."_

_When Emily opened the front door, she turned back to Derek before exiting._

"_Well, uh, I had fun."_

"_Me too," Derek agreed. "We should do this again some time."_

"_Definitely."_

_Emily had only taken a few steps down the walkway, when Derek called out to her, "Hey, Emily."_

"_Yeah?" she shouted back, over her shoulder._

"_Your ass looks good from here," he said, smirking one last time before closing the door._

_Emily walked the short distance to her house feeling a little embarrassed, but extremely happy. Derek Venturi, her school's unofficial ass expert, thought her butt looked 'good'. Maybe she'd give that DVD back to her cousin Sharon._

"Eww, mom," Tony began with a frown, "you could've left out all that 'butt' talk."

"Sorry," she said, sounding anything but repentant, "but that 'butt' comment made my day."

Lauren waved her arm dismissively. "Enough talk about your butt, what happened with you and Derek?"

Her mother shrugged. "We did do it again, and again, and again. Whenever Casey had Sam over, and sometimes even when she didn't, Derek invited me over. And, the rest as they say is history."

"You never," Lauren paused, trying to pick her words carefully, "thought that maybe Derek was just using you to make Casey mad or jealous?"

"In the beginning I thought he might be trying to make her mad, but like I said earlier, I just didn't care. And, it really never occurred to me that he would want to make her jealous. When I saw them together it was as step-siblings, sometimes even friends, but never potential lovers."

"Well, did Casey get mad when you and Derek started going together officially?"

"Yeah," Emily said, grinning almost evilly, "Casey was downright pissy."

"_Guess what," Emily said, saddling up to Casey who was putting books in her locker._

"_You got an 'A' on the math test too?" Casey guessed._

"_No, no; jeez, it's always about schoolwork with you," she admonished. _

"_Sorry," Casey said sheepishly. "So, what did happen?"_

_Emily squealed from cheerfulness. "Derek just asked me out, like officially. He wants me to be his girlfriend," she said, grinning like an idiot. "Do you even know how monumental this is? He hasn't had a steady girlfriend since he dumped Kendra in tenth grade."_

"_You didn't say yes, did you?"_

_After a minute passed in silence, Emily said, "Oh, you were serious? I thought you were making a poor attempt at humor. Of course I said yes."_

"_Oh, Emily, how could you be so stupid?" Casey said, shaking her head back and forth._

"_Excuse me?" _

"_Don't you know he's just going to hurt you; Derek Venturi doesn't care about anyone but himself," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_Emily folded her arms across her chest. "Well, he must care about me a little, or he wouldn't have asked me out, would he?" she said tartly. _

"_Emily—_

"_No, Casey," Emily cut in, "I don't want to hear it. Every time you and Sam are going through your drama, breaking up and getting back together, I support you one-hundred percent. Now, I've finally gotten the one thing I've always wanted, and I need you to be happy for me."_

"_But, Emily, it will never work. You two are completely different."_

"_What, you mean he's popular and I'm not? Or, he's cool and I'm not?" Emily didn't wait for an answer, before continuing. "You know what, Casey? You need to deal with this, because Derek and I are going to be together. And, if you can't be happy for me like a best-friend should, then maybe we don't need to hang out anymore," she announced, before stalking off down the hall._

"So, I'm assuming that Casey got over it, or at least pretended like she had?" Lauren inquired.

"Yeah, she called me later that night and apologized. She was crying about how I was her only friend and everything," Emily responded, rolling her eyes "Friend? Some friend she turned out to be."

Tony and Lauren shared a glance, both silently deciding to steer the conversation away from what a crummy friend Casey was, at least for a few minutes.

"If Derek had been this ultimate player, what kind of boyfriend did he make? They say reformed rakes make the best husbands."

"Well, now, I wouldn't really know, would I?" Emily said, smartly.

"Come on, mom. I'm serious; did he ever cheat on you, or anything? I mean, besides the obvious."

"Well, there was this one time. But, it's sort of connected to the 'obvious' at least I think so."

**TBC**

**A/N: **I wasn't positive how they spell Dimi's name, so I took a shot.

Just in case anyone doesn't know, the cabbage patch was a popular dance in like the mid-'80s. People on tv still do it a lot—that's where I always see it—so I'm sure you've all seen it too.

Oh, I actually really like the movie _Scarface_, but I haven't met many other girls that do, so I figured that Casey's and Emily's reaction to the movie was realistic.

**Reviews Are Welcome!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Flashbacks are in italics. This isn't beta-ed.

**Disclaimer: **I own LWD and The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Writing fanfiction is just my cover. I had you fooled, didn't I?

OOOOOOOO

"So, what made you get back together with him after he cheated on you?"

Emily regarded her son oddly. "What do you mean, 'get back together'? Derek and I never broke up, well, except when he ran off with Casey."

It was Tony's turn to look confused. "What do _you_ mean?" he shot back. You just pretty much said that he cheated on you. Don't tell me you stayed with him?" he asked incredulously.

"Don't be ridiculous," Lauren began, with a slight laugh. "Mom would never stay with someone she knew was cheating on her; she must've not been positive, or something."

"No, I was positive; I caught him red-handed," their mother confirmed.

Now Lauren was incredulous. "And you stayed with him?"

"Yeah, I stayed, but you don't understand. Casey made me,"—she broke off and started over—"Casey was my best friend, so I believed her when," she stopped a second time, sniffling a little. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Emily struggled to keep her composure.

Lauren looked at Tony, worry for her mother clear in her eyes.

Tony gave his sister a reassuring smile, before facing his mother. "Umm, mom?"

Emily opened her eyes and stared at her obviously anxious children. "I guess I was silly, but at the time I didn't think she had a reason to lie. There were few people I trusted more than Casey MacDonald. But, knowing what I know now, I don't know where the truth begins and the lying ends."

It was hard for Emily to think about the past. There were so many things she was unsure about, so many half-truths. After finding out about Derek and Casey, Emily hadn't known what was real anymore. The time Emily had caught Derek cheating on her, Casey had fed her some story that Emily had bought hook, line, and sinker at the time, but now… Now she didn't know if it was true, or if Casey had just been covering her own ass.

"Uh, mom, do you think you can tell us about the time he cheated on you?" Tony hated to push his mother when it was plain to see that she was hurting, but he needed to know.

Emily shrugged. "I'll tell you, and then you can decide for yourself if I was a fool to believe it."

_Emily had been stewing in her room for hours. She would cry, then trash her room and then cry some more. Part of her wanted to call Derek and give him a piece of her mind, but she really didn't want to talk to him yet. She wished she could just go to sleep and remove the image of them from her mind, but she knew that if she fell asleep she would see them in her dreams kissing, touching, groping, never taking notice of her even though they should've heard the front door opening. A bitter laugh escaped Emily's lips, 'they were probably too immersed in their grope fest to hear the door opening,' she thought to herself. _

"_Fuck this," Emily said aloud to herself after catching a glimpse of her tear stained face in the mirror. She may have not been exactly ready to talk to Derek yet, but she still needed some answers._

_OOOOOOOO_

_Emily burst into Casey's room without warning and slammed the door behind her. "How could you not tell me?" she screeched at a surprised Casey._

"_Tell you what?"_

"_Oh, don't you dare play innocent. I was here this afternoon; I saw. I was in your dining room and I saw everything," Emily declared fiercely. "I thought you were my friend, Casey. How could you not tell me?"_

_Casey shot off her bed. "Emily, I-I'm-I uh…"_

_Emily crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently. _

"_I am so sorry, Emily," Casey said._

_Emily's eyes narrowed. "Well, you should be sorry. I mean, really, how could you not tell me Derek's cheating on me? I know he's your brother or whatever, but I'm still your best friend."_

_Casey stumbled back, something akin to bewilderment upon her face. "Wait," Casey said, holding up a hand, "what exactly did you see this afternoon?"_

"_I told you, I came over and saw Derek making out with some tramp in the dining room. They didn't see me, but boy did I see them."_

"_Some tramp?" Casey echoed. "You mean you didn't see who he was with?"_

"_No. The way they were positioned made it hard to see either of their faces. But I have a pretty good idea who it was."_

"_Umm…who do you think she was?" Casey asked, in what seemed to Emily to be a nervous voice._

_Emily laughed bitterly. "I know who she is. She looked just like you so it could only be one person…" _

_Bringing a hand up to cover her now red face, Casey winced._

"_Vicky," Emily said, with disdain. _

"_Vicky?" Casey echoed, uncertainly._

"Vicky? Who in the world is Vicky?" Tony asked, shocked at the new development.

"Vicky is Casey's "identical" cousin," Emily answered using air quotes.

"Identical cousin? What?"

"Yeah, I swear they escaped from the set of _Patty Duke_ or something," Emily said dryly.

"Huh?" her children questioned in unison.

"Never mind. Look, Vicky was Casey's cousin, and maybe they weren't identical, but they sure looked a lot alike."

"So when you saw Derek with a girl who looked like Casey, you just assumed…"

"I assumed it was Vicky," Emily said, finishing her daughter's thought. Catching the disbelieving looks her children were sending her, she attempted to explain. "At the time my assumption didn't seem so farfetched. Vicky and Derek had hooked up before, so I knew they were attracted to each other, and Vicky was staying at their house while her mother and step-father went on a cruise."

"So, wait, was it really Vicky?"

"Honestly, now I don't know; Casey swore up and down it was though."

"Casey or Vicky, Derek still cheated. Why did you stay with him?" The thought that his mother would stay with a philanderer, was a hard pill for Tony to swallow.

"I have Casey to thank for that. She spun me a tale that had me not only staying with Derek, but loving him even more than I had been."

"_Vicky? You think it was Vicky you saw with Derek?"_

"_Who else could it have been, you?" Emily asked jokingly, giving her first real laugh of the day. _

"_It was Vicky?" Casey mumbled, shaking her head. "It was Vicky!" she repeated fervently. _

"_Yeah, I got that," Emily said eyeing her strangely. "What I don't know is why you didn't tell me they were having an affair."_

"_I didn't tell you because… because… there was uh nothing to tell," Casey said._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean you've got it all wrong; there was no affair. Instead of being upset with Derek, you should be praising him."_

"_Really?" Emily question skeptically._

"_Yeah," Casey said nodding her head eagerly._

"_And why exactly is that?" Emily asked jaws tight. _

"_Em, I know you saw them kissing, but if you had only stayed a second longer you would've seen the most amazing thing."_

"_What, he felt her up too?" she guessed, sarcastically. _

"_No, she didn't get felt up," Casey said blushing. "He pushed her away; Derek Venturi turned down a ready and more than willing girl. And, a hot girl at that."_

"_Derek turned down Vicky?" Emily said, sounding unconvinced._

"_Yes, and that's not all either. After he pushed her away, he really tore into her. He called her 'pathetic' and told her, and I quote, 'you should be ashamed of yourself, throwing yourself at me when everyone knows that I'm in love with Emily,'" Casey said, seeming almost proud._

_That just didn't sound like Derek to Emily. In fact, the only time he ever even told her he loved her was she said it first. Emily had always assumed he just wasn't inclined to be emotional, so this speech of his sounded totally out of character to her. _

"_How do you know all this? Wait," Emily said as a thought suddenly occurred to her, "did Derek tell you to tell me all this so I would forgive him?"_

"_No!" Casey said adamantly, sounding offended. "Do you really think I would help Derek like that? I saw him push her away and I heard what he said. I thought I had heard the front door slam, and when I came downstairs, well, that's when I saw everything," Casey explained. "Do you really think I would lie to you?" _

_Emily just stared at her a moment, before starting to sob. "I am so stupid."_

"_Wh-What?" Casey asked, stuttering. _

_Emily wiped her face with her hands and sniffled. "I came over here spitting mad. I was about ready to call it quits with Derek, and you," she said looking at Casey apologetically. "I just can't believe I was so quick to think Derek would betray me. We've been together for months and he hasn't even looked at another girl."_

_Casey went to Emily's side and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. After all, we are talking about former player extraordinaire, Derek Venturi." _

"_Yeah," Emily agreed. "But I was seriously ready to dump him over this. Can you imagine, leaving Derek?" Emily said, laughing slightly at how ridiculous the thought of leaving Derek was._

"_No, I really can't," Casey said quietly. _

"_See, you can't even see why girls are attracted to Derek, and even you can't imagine someone leaving him."_

"_Funny, isn't it?" _

"So, what happened?"

"Well, I went to Derek and told him what I had seen. He was about to try to explain, but I cut him off. I actually apologized for thinking the worst of him. I swore, I mean, I actually swore that I would never doubt him again," Emily said, sounding disgusted with herself. "He forgave me, good-naturedly of course."

"Mom, I know that you don't have all the facts about the past, but what makes you think that there was any truth to Casey's story?" Lauren asked, amazed. In her opinion, it was obvious who Derek had been kissing, and it sure as hell wasn't Vicky.

Emily sat up a little straighter. "Two things keep me unsure: one, I just hate to think that Casey and Derek had been together back then, and two, Casey was a terrible liar."

"So…"

"When I say 'terrible liar' I mean the girl couldn't lie well to save her life. She sounded so sincere when she was telling me how Derek had pushed Vicky away, that if she was lying, well, I'm impressed."

"You know, I bet creeping around with your best friend's boyfriend / your boyfriend's best friend / your step-brother makes you a pretty good liar," Tony reasoned.

"I see you believe the Derek/Vicky theory," Emily said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on mom, that story about Vicky was crap. I can't believe you didn't become suspicious of Derek and Casey after that whole episode," he said, sounding disappointed in his mother.

Lauren threw her brother a dirty look. "Tony, I'm sure there was a time when mom _did_ become suspicious, wasn't there mom?"

Emily didn't answer; she was staring off into space again.

**TBC**

**A/N: **_Patty Duke_ was this really cool show that came on Nick at Night when I was like five or something. The girl on it had an identical cousin, and, well, comedy ensued.

If anybody has any questions or anything was confusing let me know and I'll try to explain it.

**Reviews Are Welcome**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Sorry about the delay, but I was sick like all last week. As usual, flashbacks will be in italics. This isn't beta-ed.

**Disclaimer: **Damnit! How many times do I have to wish for ownership of LWD before my genie gives it to me?

OOOOOOOO

"Jesus, that was hot," Lauren said, pulling her hand back from the tea kettle.

Tony rolled his eye. "Why did you touch it in the first place? You've got the burner up as high as it goes."

"Don't look at me like that," she warned. "It wasn't whistling or anything. How was I supposed to know it was actually hot?"

"You caught the part about the burner being on high, right?" he asked smartly.

"Could you stop being a smart ass for like one second and help me. Reach up there," she commanded, pointing towards the cabinet, "and get Dad's Goose. I think mom could use a little kick in her tea this time."

"Really though," he said in agreement. "Did you catch her face when we asked her about becoming suspicious?"

"'Catch her face?' I was focused more on how she wouldn't answer- like she thought it would go away if she ignored it."

"Oh, she'll answer," Tony said, determinedly. "She promised she'd tell us everything she knew."

Lauren stopped stirring the vodka into the tea cup and turn to stare at her brother.

"Maybe," she paused, "maybe we should stop all this," she suggested. "I mean this is really, really hard on mom. She hasn't really complained, but it's obvious."

Tony looked back at his sister, really taking her suggestion to heart. His love for his twin was only rivaled by his love for his mother. He knew on some level he was a "mama's boy" maybe not in the traditional punkly sense, but he saw it as his duty to protect his mother. His father was not a bad person or a horrible parent, but he couldn't always be counted on to do right by his mother, so Tony felt it was his job to look after her. He hated to think he was causing his mom pain, but if he was going to be able to help her in the long run he needed the entire truth now.

"Look Ren, I'll try not to push too hard, but I've got to know everything."

Ren sighed, but part of her was happy that he wasn't ready to give up. The story had kind of hit 'a point of no return'—if her mother stopped now, Lauren would always be wondering.

Grabbing the cup of tea, Ren headed back into the living room followed closely by her brother. They found their mother in much the same position they'd left her in, except now she had this weird little smile on her face.

"Uh, here you go mom," she said, setting the tea down on the coffee table.

"You know," Emily said, reaching for the cup, "you two are quite possibly the worst whisperers I've ever met."

"You heard us?" Tony questioned, surprised.

"Practically every word," Emily confirmed.

"Well… are you gonna tell us if, or when, you ever became suspicious?"

"I don't know," she said simply.

"What?"

"I don't know if I want to answer. I mean, it's kind of a trick question, isn't it? If I say I never became suspicious, you'll think I'm an idiot who couldn't see what was apparently right in front of my face. And if I say I was suspicious, you'll think I'm a _pathetic_ idiot who was desperate enough to stay with a cheater," Emily explained, face blank.

Tony threw his hands up. "First off mom, nobody thinks you're an idiot. What we _think_ is that your boyfriend was a prick and your best friend was a bitch, and you were just too nice and naive to see it," he said forcefully. If I looked/look disappointed it's not because I think you're an idiot, I'm just frustrated. Do I wish you had found out about Derek and Casey sooner? Yes. But only so you wouldn't have been hurt so bad."

"Honey, that's sweet," Emily smiled at her son, "but I would've been hurt either way. I was too in love and too attached. I did see the signs, they were there staring me in the face. But for everything I saw, everything I heard, Derek had an explanation."

_Derek threw open his apartment door and his face was a mask of surprise when he saw who was on the other side of the door. _

"_Emily… you're here, at my apartment, now," he said, sounding confused._

_Emily was really having trouble understanding why Derek seemed so surprised to see her. Ever since the first semester of college had started and Derek had gotten his own apartment, courtesy of his mother, Emily often dropped by unannounced. She may have been attending a whole other school, but it wasn't far from his so they spent a lot of weekends together. _

"_Is that any way to greet your girlfriend?" she asked, giggling slightly. Pushing past him, she let herself in and left him to shut the door._

"_Sorry baby, it's just you didn't call or anything."_

"_Yeah, I thought I'd surprise you and help you study for that test you've been stressing over. But," she gestured to the jacket and keys in his hand, "you seem to be on your way out. I thought you were locking yourself in the house so you could have a major cramming session?"_

"_I was going to, but I have to go home and watch Marti. The rest of the family is going to Lizzie's soccer game," he explained._

"_Casey told me about Lizzie's game when I talked to her earlier."_

_They may have graduated high school, and Casey may have been going to the same school as Derek and not Emily, but she and Emily were still best friends. They talked on the phone for at least an hour every night. They had vowed to keep in touch, which wasn't all that hard considering their parents still lived next door to each other. _

"_You know what else Casey told me?" Emily questioned, voice saccharine sweet. She continued without pausing for an answer. "Casey told me she was watching Marti, not you."_

_Derek shrugged. "Casey is watching Marti."_

_Emily resisted the urge to scream. Sometimes talking to Derek was like pulling teeth. _

"_If Casey's watching Marti, where are you going?"_

"_To watch Marti," Derek replied slowly._

_Emily felt like she was in some bad comedy sketch. _

"_Der-ek," she said warningly, sounding eerily like Casey. _

"_Relax Em, I'm just messing with you. Casey and I are both watching Marti."_

"_Casey didn't mention that…"_

"_That's probably because she doesn't know yet."_

"_Oh. Well, if Casey's watching her, why don't you just stay home? We can hang out and do stuff," she said suggestively. If was quite obvious what type of 'stuff' Emily was referring to._

"_No can do," Derek said, sounding disappointed. "Smarti specifically asked for me; I can't tell her 'no' when she's healthy, and when she's sick…" he trailed off._

_Emily gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're such a sweet big brother. Hey," she said, sounding suddenly excited, "I could come with you and we could let Casey leave. I'm sure she'd rather be hanging out with Sam anyway, he told me he was going home this weekend."_

_Emily had always thought it was ironic that Derek and Casey went to the same college, and Sam and she were attending the same school- like the couples had been mixed up or something. She probably talked to Sam more now than she had in high school. It had been nice to see a familiar face during orientation while everyone else was forced to partner up with total strangers. _

"_Casey can't leave," Derek said quickly._

"_Umm, why not?"_

"_You know how the parents are. They'd be afraid I was going to set the house on fire or something if I watched her alone."_

"_Well, I could still come with you," she said hopefully._

"_So you could watch me and Casey rotate between fighting and watching a sick kid? Don't put yourself through that. You should just go home baby," he told her as he put on his leather jacket._

"_But—_

_Derek tossed an arm around her shoulder and interrupted her. "Go on back to school. I'll come up to see you tomorrow," he suggested, trying to appease her. _

"_But what about your test? Won't you have to study?" _

"_Fuck the test; I'd rather spend time with my girl."_

"_What did I ever do to deserve you?" Emily asked as he led her out of the apartment._

_Derek looked uncomfortable and didn't answer, but Emily figured that was just due to her being emotional. _

"That first year we were at college, you would've thought Derek was straight out of an Ann Martin book the way he was babysitting all the time."

"What did she write?"

"You know, the _Babysitter's Club_?" When her children stared blankly back at her, Emily shook her head. "Jesus, what do kids read these days?"

"The sport's section."

"The _Pretty People with Problems_ Series."

"There is a series of books called _Pretty People with Problems_?" Emily asked her daughter incredulously.

"Yeah, all the books in the series have been best-sellers. I used to love them when I was like twelve. You don't remember grandma buying them for me?"

"No, but I think I'll have a talk with my mother about that," Emily mumbled.

Tony waved his hand dismissively. "Enough about all that. What other types of things tipped you off?"

"Well, with the babysitting I thought Derek maybe cheating and just using Marti as a cover, but there was never any proof to support that theory. From what I could find out he really was going to his parent's house all those nights. I didn't know then, that was where his yamp was. How convenient," she said sarcastically.

Tony gestured for her to continue.

"Oh, what other types of things," she thought a moment, "well I guess the biggest tip off was when he proposed. Everything about _that_ was weird."

"Explain."

"First off he proposed to me like three weeks after Sam proposed to Casey and he really showed his ass when that happened."

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, perplexed.

"Derek got drunk at their engagement party. I had never seen him drunk, in fact, up until that moment I had thought he had a hollow leg or something. But, at the time I thought he was just upset because he thought he was losing his best-friend or something," she said, shrugging.

"Besides the fact that he proposed so soon after Sam, what was so weird about it?" Lauren asked trying to get to the point.

"Everything."

_Emily glanced around their table in the back of Vic's pizzeria and wondered what was wrong with Derek. To put it simply, he looked like he was going to hurl. He had sounded fine on the phone when he asked her to go out tonight, but ever since he had picked her up he had looked pale and sick. _

"_Umm… Derek if you're sick why don't we go ahead and leave," she suggested. _

"_I'm fine."_

"_Then why do you keep sending the waiter away?" she questioned. "Are we waiting on something?"_

"_No, like what?" he asked, sounding bewildered. _

"_I don't know. You're the one who brought me here and you're the one who's stalling," she sounded irritated. "Can we please order, I feel like my stomach is eating itself."_

_Right as she finished speaking, she heard the bell above the restaurant's entrance ring. Looking up, Emily was more than a little surprised to see Sam and Casey walk in and head towards her table. _

"_What's going on?" she inquired, eyeing Derek strangely._

"_How should I know?"_

_When Sam and Casey reached their table, he helped her into her seat and then took one of his own. _

"_What's going on?" Emily repeated._

"_Yeah, Sam, you didn't tell me were meeting Emily and Derek," Casey said. She looked as confused and nervous as Emily felt._

"_Well," Sam began with a grin, "when I found out what Derek was planning I insisted that he let me and you tag-a-long to watch."_

"_Watch what?" Casey asked. _

_Derek ignored her question. "At first I told him no, but after I thought about it I changed my mind. It's only fair that you"—he was speaking to both of them, but he was staring at Casey—"get to feel exactly how I felt when I saw Sam propose." _

"_Propose?" Emily and Casey said in unison. _

_Derek reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a small blue velvet box. _

_A moment ago he had briefly regained some of his coloring, book now he looked as pale as ever._

"_Emily, I," he broke off, shaking his head. "Look Emily, we've been together a couple of years now and well you're," he stopped a second time. "Will you marry me?" he asked bluntly, biting the bullet._

_Emily snatched the box out of his palm. "Yes!" _

_Throwing open the box she examined the ring. If it wasn't at least one karat, then her name wasn't Emily._

"_Oh my god. Derek, how can you afford this?"_

"_I got a good deal, it fell off the back off a truck," he said jokingly. "It was my mother's aunt's ring. I don't ever remember meeting her, but she willed the ring to me," he explained._

"_Mmm hmm," Emily said distractedly. She was only half-listening; she was too busy drooling over her proposal and ring. _

"_Oh," she shrieked, looking up, "there's an inscription." _

"_Derek's and Casey's eyes locked briefly, but significantly, before he focused on Emily. "Don't," he tried to stop her, but she was already reading it aloud._

"_It says, 'I'll always love you – D&C forever.'" Emily looked up at Derek. "'D&C forever?'"_

"_That's why I didn't want you to read it. The guy at the store messed up the inscription, I guess over the phone 'E' sounds like 'C'. I was going to get it fixed, but then the ring wouldn't have been ready for another week and I wanted to propose as soon as possible."_

"_You did?" Emily asked grinning. "That is so sweet. And, I love the ring; we'll fix the inscription later. What's important is that we're getting married." She turned to look at her silent best friend. "Isn't this amazing?"_

"_I know I'm amazed," Casey said with a smile that could have easily been mistaken for a grimace._

_Sam nudged Derek. "D, why do you still look so nervous? She said yes!"_

_Derek shook his head, blinking. "I guess I'm still in shock or something."_

"_I know what will loosen you up," Emily said. "Hey Vic," she yelled to the man behind the counter, "bring us a round of anything, we're celebrating my engagement," she practically sang the last two words. _

"Derek never really did loosen up that night, and neither did Casey, but she blamed her mood on a headache. Funny how she always felt ill when she was around me and Derek." Emily took a long drink, finishing off her tea. "Now do you see what I meant when I said the whole thing was weird?"

"So you noticed how strange it was back then?" Tony asked, surprised.

"I noticed. Derek's behavior, Casey's attitude, hell the fact that Casey and Sam were even there, the looks Casey and Derek shared, and the inscription; I may have been blissfully happy, but for once I wasn't blind," Emily said. "That was the first night the idea of Derek and Casey together ever entered my mind."

"Really?"

"Don't get too excited Lauren," her mother said wryly. "As soon as it entered my mind I pushed it back out. The way I saw it, Derek would never have asked me to marry him if he was in love with someone else, especially Casey. I didn't think he was that cruel… I didn't think he'd have taken it that far. It wasn't like going steady, this was a lifelong commitment."

"You gave Derek too much credit," Tony said.

"Apparently," she agreed.

"Okay, so at this point you and Casey were both engaged and seemingly happy," Lauren said, glancing at her mother for confirmation. Emily nodded. "So when did the shit hit the fan?"

"And when it hit, what did you do?" Tony asked.

"Oh, you'd have been proud of me…"

**TBC**

**A/N: **If anything was confusing or weird let me know and I'll try to fix or explain it. For any readers who are new to my writing, I meant to write "yamp" it's like my favorite word or something.

**Reviews Are Welcome**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Sorry about the delay, but between the end of the semester and going back to work fulltime I have just been so busy. I'll try to stay on top of this story better in the future.

**Disclaimer: **Knock, knock.

Who's there?

The owners of Life With Derek.

Oh shit…

OOOOOOOO

Emily's eyes were bright with a strange combination of excitement, anxiety, and misery. This was where she had always ended the story in previous years. She would tell whatever nosy ex-classmate, gossipy former teacher, or mutual friend she ran into who felt the need to offer shallow condolences and empty sympathies the abbreviated version of the breakup, or the breakdown, as some witty journalist in the society pages of the local paper had taken to calling it. When asked, she would simply reply that she and Derek had broken up at Casey's wedding rehearsal—she offered her listeners no less and no more. If someone wasn't there to actually witness it, Emily didn't think they'd completely believe her tale anyway.

But, her children were different. They weren't out for entertainment. This was not simply a chance to here about some real life Jerry Springer type drama for them. Tony and Lauren were genuinely concerned, not only for their mother, but for their father, themselves, and their family. They needed to know. And, Emily needed to tell somebody, or she was going to explode. There had been hundreds of witnesses, but she could never really talk to anyone but Sharon about it.

"Tony," Lauren said, speaking softly and out the side of her mouth, "she's doing it again. I really wish she wouldn't stare off into space like that and tune us out, it's creepy."

"Tell me about," her brother said just as softly.

"I'm thinking, not deaf. I can hear you."

"Sorry about that, but you were doing the whole comatose thing again."

"I was just trying to sort some things out in my head, trying to figure out what exactly to tell you two," Emily admitted.

"Well, what did you mean when you said 'you would've been proud of me?'" Lauren asked.

Tony held up a hand. "You're jumping ahead, Ren. First tell us how you found out, mom."

"I was just in the right place at the right time or maybe it was the _wrong_ place at the right time," she said wryly.

_Emily took a look around the big banquet hall and sucked in a breath. She had to admit, she was impressed. This place had a notorious waiting list, you had to book it months in advance, but somehow Casey's dad had managed to get it for his daughter's rehearsal dinner. Emily figured that Casey's father, David, must have been the opposite type of lawyer from Mr. Venturi, because he was dropping a lot of change on this wedding. It was one of those weddings that was a three day event: the first evening was the rehearsal dinner, the second day was the actual wedding, and on the third day there was going to be a big going away party before Sam and Casey left on their honeymoon. _

_Emily may have been impressed, but she was far from jealous. Her wedding maybe wasn't going to be as lavish as Casey's, but with Derek as her groom, how could it not be perfect?_

"_Emily," her cousin and second-best friend, Sharon, called, breaking her out of her musings, "are you sure it's cool that I'm here?"_

"_Relax, the invitations said we could bring guests, and since Derek got his own invitation and you were in town this week I decided to bring you," Emily responded._

"_I'll relax as soon as I have a couple of drinks in me."_

"_What are we waiting for, it's open bar."_

_An hour and about three vodka and sprites later, Emily was about to burst. "Okay, if I don't find the restroom soon I'm going to embarrass myself."_

"_Em, please, you're preaching to the choir."_

"_Excuse me, sir," Emily said turning to the bartender, "could you tell me where the closest restroom is?"_

"_Well aren't you a cute one," the bartender said, practically leering at her. "You know, I've been watching you all night…" he said waggling his eyebrows suggestively, letting his voice trail off. _

"_Really?" Emily asked, feigning interest. "Then you must've seen the gorgeous guy I walked in with, he happens to be my fiancé, and he has a really bad jealousy problem."_

_The bartender gave a hearty chuckle at that. "Somehow I doubt that, little lady."_

_Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at his lame choice of words, Emily frowned at the bartender. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Well, if we're talking about the same cocky, James Dean wannabe in the leather jacket, then I really don't think he's thinking too much about you right now. He just dragged the babe with the blue eyes out the back door," the man said smugly. _

"_Really?" Emily asked with an edge to her voice. "How could he be outside when he's sitting right over…" But her voice trailed off as her eyes hit upon the spot where she had seen him only moments before. He wasn't there._

"_I told you."_

_Sharon threw the bartender a look that clearly said 'shut up'. _

"_I'm sure it's nothing, Em," she said, trying to prevent a breakdown. "It was probably just Casey he went outside with; I don't see her around either. They're probably just fighting or something._

"_Why would they be fighting tonight?"_

"_The same reason they're always fighting with each other—because they like to."_

_Sharon was right of course, Derek and Casey seemed to genuinely enjoy fighting with each other these days. In fact, the closer that it had got to the wedding the more vicious their fights had become. Lately, it had appeared to Emily as though Derek and Casey were having a contest to see who could hurt the other more. Their relationship had lost almost all traces of the semi-friendship that had developed between them during the latter part of high school. _

_But to get into one of their famous Venturi/MacDonald blowups at Casey's wedding rehearsal was just too much, even if Casey and Derek had taken it outside. Emily usually tried not to interfere in their fights, but this really wasn't the time or the place. Emily figured she had better go outside and break it up before George and Nora noticed their children's disappearance and decided to go investigate themselves._

"_Hellloo? Earth to Emily," Sharon said in a sing-song voice._

"_Hey, you can go ahead to the restroom, I'm gonna go outside and see what's up with them."_

"_Just come to the girl's room with me, and then we can go out together. You know they will still be going at it."_

"_True, but I want to get it over with. I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing some yelling myself. We're getting too old for this; they can't go anywhere together without acting like a couple of five year olds," Emily said sounding annoyed._

"_Alright, alright, I'll go to the bathroom by myself, even though you are totally breaking the girl code by making me do so," she said with a mock frown._

"_Come find me when you're done, I'll probably still be trying to break up Tyson and Holyfield."_

"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess: when you went outside you saw the exact opposite of a fight, huh?" Lauren questioned.

Emily shook her head and gave a mirthless chuckle. "Oh, no, I saw a fight. That just wasn't all I saw."

_It wasn't long before Emily found them. Casey and Derek were forty feet away from her, but even at that distance it was obvious that they were fighting. However there was something that just wasn't right. Sure, Derek was wearing that same mask of anger that he always wore when arguing with Casey, and yes, Casey's eyes blazed with a familiar look of determination, but to Emily something was off. Maybe it was the way Derek's eyes seemed to be shining from unshed tears, or the way Casey's arms seemed to keep involuntarily moving as if they wanted to reach out to him. Whatever it was, Emily knew that this was not the typical Derek/Casey argument._

_Emily kicked off her extremely cute, but incredibly loud, stiletto pumps and made her way towards Casey and Derek—she did not want to draw any attention to herself just yet. Crouching behind a hideously ugly, but exceedingly useful bush, she gave a silent prayer of thanks to God for the banquet hall's choice of a landscaper—this was the perfect hideout for an eavesdropper, or a peeping tom. She could hear them perfectly, and the view was almost just as great._

_Casey and Derek were just staring at each other and Emily was staring at the two of them, waiting with baited breath. The night air was practically crackling with the intensity of it all._

_Then something happened._

_Casey hand flashed out and slapped Derek across the face. _

"_Damn you, Derek, damn you to hell for doing this on the night before my wedding! Why are you doing this to me?" she asked with a mixture of exasperation and anger._

_Derek rubbed his abused cheek. "Why are _you_ doing this to _me_?" He mocked her accusingly, but there was no humor in his voice. "Despite how we feel about each other, you're still planning on going through with this circus," it wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. "How could _you_?"_

"_Don't you dare put this all on me," she said menacingly, head shaking back and forth. "I may be getting married tomorrow, but I'm not the only one with a fiancé," she said as she reached under his shirt to and pulled out the chain that Emily had bought him a few months earlier. "We've both made our choices and now we have to stick with them. I _am_ getting married tomorrow, and then next month you'll marry Emily and we can all live happily ever after," she said sarcastically._

"_Casey," he said as he reached out to grab her._

"_Don't touch me," she growled in response. But her attempts to extract herself from his hold were halfhearted at best._

"_Casey, please," was all he said before grabbing her lips in a hungry kiss. In mere seconds her hands went from trying to beat him off, to trying to pull him closer. _

_They kissed, and kissed, and kissed some more. _

_Emily was feeling more than a little sick, but she just couldn't tear her eyes away from the unlikely couple. It was like when you're driving down the highway and you see a horrible car crash—nobody wants to see a flaming man running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to put himself out, but you just can't look away anyway. Well, there was one difference between watching Derek and Casey and watching the scene of an accident: Emily wished Casey would burst into flames._

_Casey seemed to come to her senses, because all of a sudden she found the strength of ten grinches and pushed Derek away. When he made a move to recapture her lips, she took a giant leap back that almost caused him to fall on his face. _

"_Derek, we can't… we have a duty to our significant others." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as him. _

"_Fuck duty…"_

"_Derek," she whispered softly, sadly._

"_Fuck Sam…"_

_Casey closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she seemed to be trying to conjure up the will power to deny him what they both wanted so badly._

_When her eyes opened, Derek slowly and deliberately brought his hand up to the necklace that Emily had given him not so long ago. As his fingers toyed with the locket that held the pictures of him and Emily, Casey shook her head back and forth, silently mouthing the word 'no'—she knew what was coming._

_Yards away, Emily's demeanor was an exact replica of Casey's. She had this horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach—she knew what was coming too._

_Snatching the chain from his neck in one quick movement, Derek threw it to the ground._

"_Fuck Emily." _

_He took one tiny step towards Casey and cocked his head to the side in a half-questioning-half-inviting expression, but it was all she needed to see. Just like that she was in his arms._

_Emily had seen enough too. Her knees and heart seemed to give out at the same time. Her bottom would have connected with the ground had it not been for the sudden appearance of her cousin Sharon. _

_Taking one look at her cousin—barefoot and dirty from hiding behind a bush, eyes red and puffy, breathing harsh and irregular—Sharon wasn't sure what to do._

"_Jesus Emily, what happened?"_

"_Casey and D-D-Derek," she stumbled out through her cries._

"_What about Casey and Derek? Are they okay?"_

"_They're fine," Emily spat, trying unsuccessfully to reign in her emotions. "Take a look for yourself," Emily said, motioning to the opening in the bushes that she had been gazing through. _

_Sharon's brows knitted together in confusion, but she did as she was told. _

_Sharon gasped. "Oh my god, oh my god!" she screeched, drawing back from the makeshift peep hole. "How long has this been going on?"_

_Sharon's question hit Emily like a bucket of ice. _How long had this been going on?_ All these memories began flashing through Emily's mind: Derek defending Casey's honor, her first date with Derek being a double date with Sam and Casey, Casey's reaction to their relationship, the Vicki incident, the constant babysitting, her engagement ring's original inscription…_

"_Years," she answered quietly._

"_Huh?"_

"_I don't know for certain, I may never really know, but I think this may have been going on for years."_

"_What are you going to do?" Sharon asked voice full of genuine concern._

_Emily took one look at her ring finger and shot up like a rocket, grabbing her discarded shoes as she did so. "I think I'm gonna be sick," she whispered making a quick, but quiet dash for the door. _

_Sharon gave chase, careful not to draw the attention of Casey and Derek since Emily was apparently unprepared to confront them, and caught up quick. _

"_You go be sick and I'll go grab our jackets from the coat check. I will meet you outside of the restroom in a few minutes, and then we can get you the hell out of here." _

"_Thanks," was all Emily said before they went their separate ways._

"Wait a minute, where is the 'you would have been proud of me part'? So far you've hid in a bush, cried, and thrown up, nothing I would call pride worthy."

"Tony," Lauren fairly hissed, "shut-up."

"I'm sorry mom, you had every right to be upset, but please tell me that is not it. Blows had to be given; licks must have been dished out. If ever fighting words were uttered, it was that night. Tell me that somebody got their ass kicked, or champagne thrown on them or something… at the very least there had to have been an Alexis vs. Krystle style fight?" Tony inquired.

"Boy, what do you know about Dynasty?" Emily asked with a surprised smile.

"Look, men can enjoy," he stopped short and shrugged refocusing on the matter at hand, "was that it, or not?"

"Yeah mom, was there a knockdown-dragout fight, or what?" Lauren asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Emily smirked. "What do you think?"

**TBC**

**A/N**: When I planned this storyline out, there was going to be a big confrontation in this chapter, but once I started actually typing it out I decided to put the blow up in the next chapter. If there are any questions or anything was confusing let me know and I'll try to clear it up.

**Reviews Are Always Welcome!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Sorry about the delay.

Words being stressed and flashbacks are in italics. During the flashbacks, words that are being stressed are in a normal font.

This isn't beta-ed.

**Disclaimer:** Is this really necessary?

OOOOOOOO

Tony was openly staring at his mother, a thinly veiled look of annoyance mixed with anger was on his face; his jaw was actually twitching. Growling, he threw his hands up in frustration. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were doing this on purpose."

"Really though," Lauren said in agreement, "you've been nursing that shot for the past five minutes. It's a _shot_ for heaven's sake; just toss it back so you can give us the details."

Emily's lips twitched as she tried to contain her smile. "Gee, you guys seem a little anxious to know what happened," she observed sweetly.

"You think," the twins replied sarcastically.

Emily laughed gaily. She really couldn't help it; they had finally reached her favorite part of the story- the only part that she took the smallest bit of satisfaction in. The whole time she had been speaking to her children about her history with Derek and Casey she had felt like a fool and had been more than a little embarrassed by her childhood behavior, but she was about to be redeemed.

They were finally at the point where she was going to stand up for herself and take back just a tiny bit of the pride and dignity that Casey and Derek had stolen from her.

"Mom," Ren groaned, "come on; please continue," she fairly begged.

"Well if you insist…"

"_Well, I have good news and bad news," Sharon said as soon as a stomach-clutching Emily emerged from the restroom. _

_Taking the Dixie cup of water from her cousin's extended hand; Emily swished the cool liquid around her newly fouled mouth and grimaced. "Give me the good news first; Lord knows I could stand to hear some."_

"_I got our jackets and purses without a problem, so we can leave as soon as you're ready."_

"_Great- wait, what's the bad news? Is the car on fire? Oh, I know, are Derek and Casey having sex on the hood of it?"_

_Sharon's pretty nose wrinkled in disgust. "Eww, no- at least I hope they aren't. Although, if they were it might be easier to run them over, I mean, we could—_

_Emily held up a hand, silencing her. "About the bad news?"_

"_I never saw Casey and Derek come back in so chances are they're still outside." Emily gave a noticeable shudder at the thought. "We could always go out the main entrance, but George and Nora are holding court by the door for some reason. My point is, either way we go we're going to have to explain our premature departure to one Macdonald-Venturi or another." _

_Emily closed her eyes for a moment and Sharon assumed she was trying to decide which encounter would be worse, but Emily's decision was already made- there was only one choice she could actually stomach._

"_We're going out the front," she said, voice flat. "We will try to keep a low profile, but if they say anything I'll just fake a headache or something."_

_Sharon wanted to simply nod her head in agreement and be silent but supportive, but her mind just wouldn't let her. She couldn't understand why _they_ had to keep a low profile; Emily was the victim in all this._

"_Can I ask you a question?" she asked, against her better judgment. _

"_If you insist."_

"_Why are we even leaving- why aren't you jumping on stage and exposing Derek and Casey for the degenerates that they are?" she asked in exasperation. "You know you don't owe them the slightest amount of courtesy, right?" _

_Being cordial to Derek and Casey was the last thing on Emily's mind, but they were not the only people at the rehearsal. "True. But what about their parents and siblings and—_

"_What about them?" Sharon asked amazed at what she was hearing._

"_Would you want to hear that your daughter or son was dating their stepsibling?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow in Sharon's direction and crossing her arms across her chest._

"_No, of course not." She sighed. "But—_

"_Look, I'm sure there'll be a big blowup soon enough, but now isn't the time."_

_Sharon's jaw dropped open, she was so incredulous. "Umm, hello? Now is the perfect time for a blowup! You just found out that your man is cheating on you with your best friend- there won't be a _better_ time for a blowup," she said dramatically. _

_Emily chose not to respond; instead she just started heading towards the entrance. But when she left the hallway that held the restroom and came to the main banquet room, she was incredibly surprised to see that not only George and Nora, but Casey, Sam, and Derek had returned to their seats. Aside from a few stray hairs, Casey and Derek looked completely normal, and Sam, well, Sam looked blissfully happy- her heart ached at the sight of his smile; she couldn't help but wonder how many more hours it would be there. _

_Sharon followed Emily's gaze and gave a wry smile. "Well, at least now it will be easier to make our great escape, right?"_

_Emily shrugged and continued walking- she saw no reason to stray from the original plan. The way the tables were situated around the room it would be easier for them to go out the main entrance than the back one anyway. _

_Emily and Sharon hadn't made it ten steps, when they heard:_

"_Emily Davis."_

_Emily and Sharon's heads shot up simultaneously. Stealing a look at the makeshift stage, Emily almost threw up again at the sight of the disc jockey wielding a microphone and staring directly at her. _

"_What the hell?" she whispered to her cousin._

"_Emily Davis," the voice boomed again, and this time it was accompanied by a spotlight that had magically found it's way to her. As the assembled guests all turned towards her, she could do nothing but stand stock-still, mouth opening and closing unintelligibly. _

"_Maid of honor," the DJ called in a singsong voice, "it's time for your speech."_

"Fuck that_," Sharon whispered fiercely. In Sharon's mind, there was no way that her cousin was going up on that stage and waxing poetic about Casey's good qualities. _

"_Don't act shy, Emily. We're waiting, so get your butt up here," he joked. _

_Sharon took one look at her cousin and felt her own anger rise. Emily looked like she couldn't decide whether to faint or cry. "Emily don't do it. Remember what I told you: you don't owe them a damn thing."_

"_Emily," the DJ called again, this time he sounded worried and guests were beginning to whisper at the delay, but Emily noticed none of it._

_One phrase just kept replaying in her mind:_ 'There won't be a better time for a blowup.'

_Sharon was wrong, Emily did owe Derek and Casey something, and boy, were they about to get it._

_Squaring her shoulders and raising her chin the smallest of fractions, Emily marched up to the stage like a soldier. Upon reaching her destination she grabbed the microphone from the DJ and shooed him off the stage with a kind of charm that would put a Southern Belle to shame. She scanned the crowd and soon came upon the face of her perplexed looking cousin and gave her an odd look._

_But Sharon and Emily were best friends; Sharon could read her like a book. And that look gave Sharon the distinct feeling that she had better move closer to Emily- something was about to go down. _

_Emily's lips twisted into a crude smile. "What can I say about Casey Macdonald that hasn't been said at one time or another by almost everybody in this room?" Emily asked, addressing the crowd. "We've all heard that she's sweet, caring, compassionate, giving- I mean, the list of compliments given to her on a daily basis could go on forever." Emily's gaze traveled over some of the more frequent compliment givers like George and Nora, Casey's aunt Fiona, and some of the professors that the queen of all keeners had seen fit to invite to her pre-wedding celebration as well as the actual ceremony, and she couldn't help but inwardly sigh at how blind they had all been, including her. "But tonight I want to tell you all about the _real_ Casey- the Casey that hardly anybody gets to know- but _lucky_ me, as her _best_ friend I've gotten to experience a side of her that nobody else has been exposed to." _

_Emily's tone had been pretty level throughout her deliver and she had been just vague enough with her word choices. Sharon swept the crowd with her eyes, but she couldn't find even one person who seemed to suspect what was coming. Even Casey and Derek looked completely at ease._ Smug bastards.

_Emily looked at Sharon one more time and Sharon returned the look with an almost imperceptible head nod. _

_It was time._

_One more deep breath and it was showtime. "The real Casey," she paused gathering her resolve, "well, the real Casey is a slut," she said bluntly, with a tremendous amount of force. _

_There was a minute pause then half the crowd laughed uneasily, thinking that she was making some type of an ill-mannered joke, but the other half- the half that had been watching her face closely as she spoke, the half that had seen her red puffy eyes as soon as she had graced the stage and wondered at the cause of her tears, the half that had genuinely speculated as to why the maid of honor had been reluctant to give the customary speech- wanted to hear what else she had to say before they responded to her blunt language. _

"_And Casey, the little overachiever," she said sarcastically, "she isn't your average, everyday peddling-her-wares-to-every-man-on-the-street slut either; she makes sure to keep it _personal_." _

_Okaaay, there was no question about whether or not she was serious now._

_Casey and Derek's eyes met across their table; there was no doubt in their mind that Emily knew their secret. Casey stole a glance at Sam, he didn't seem to have any idea what Emily was talking about, but to say he looked curious would have been putting it mildly. In fact, he looked poised to comment. Casey sent Derek a frantic look, silently begging him to do something. _

_Springing into action, Derek got up from his seat and literally leaped onto the stage. He put his arm around Emily and to everyone in the audience it appeared to be the most loving of gestures, but Emily could feel the anger radiating from his body._ What in the hell did he have to be angry about?

_Prying the mic from his girlfriend's hands, he spoke to the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman, you'll have to excuse my fiancé, she's had one too many—_

_Emily turned to Derek and stared at him incredulously, before snatching the mic back. "Oh, I may have been a little tipsy earlier, but I saw something that sobered me right up. Would you all like to know what it was?" she bit out through clenched teeth._

_Casey shot out of her seat, causing a good amount of the audience's attention to become directed towards her. _

"_Emily, please don't," she began anxiously, only to be cut off by an irate Emily. _

"'_Emily, please don't,' what? Emily, please don't tell my family and friend's that I've been cheating on my fiancé with your fiancé—is that what you were going to say?" she asked mockingly, staring straight at Casey._

_There was a collective gasp from the audience at Emily's revelation. Emily spared a glance at Sam, she knew this was going to be hard on him, but she couldn't let this opportunity for retribution slip away, even for a good friend—he looked like he was in shock._

_Casey ignored the shocked whispers and focused on Emily. "Emily, please, this is not the time, let's just go somewhere—_

_Emily was too outdone by the odd calmness of Casey's voice; she might as well have been talking about a sell at Macy's. Walking down the stage steps, Emily quickly approached Casey._

"'_Emily please, Emily please,' she mocked harshly. "Do you even hear yourself?" Casey's silence at her question only enraged her further. "I was your best friend-your only friend," she corrected, "when nobody else in that school, including your _lover_, would even give you the time of day. Sam," she began, pointing at the still shell-shocked groom-to-be, "took all kinds of crap for dating you, but that didn't faze him because he loved you. And now, when I find out that you've been screwing my man, you have the audacity to try and _shush_ me." Casey's nerve was truly unbelievable. _

_Casey gulped and tried again. "I know you're upset, but—_

_Emily's hand flashed out, slapping Casey with enough force to send her face jerking to the side. "You don't know," she said forcefully. "You don't know what it's like to see the guy you've loved since you were six literally step on your heart; you don't know what it's like to have your heart broken into a million pieces, and you _sure as hell_ don't know what it's like to know that your best friend has such little regard for you and everyone else she claims to love, that she would make-out with your fiancé during a party being given because she's about to marry another man!" _

"_I'm—_

_It wasn't Emily who interrupted Casey this time, but Sam- he seemed to have finally found his voice._

"_Is it true, Casey?" He didn't sound angry, just oddly curious. It was obvious from his tone that if Casey were to deny it right then, he would have believed her._

_Derek spoke up, not Casey. "It's true," he answered simply. He was more than ready for their secret to be out. He genuinely liked Emily, and Sam had been like a brother to him, but he loved Casey more than he had ever loved anybody in his entire life, including his parents. And if Emily and Sam had to get hurt in order for him to have Casey, then, well, they'd just have to get hurt. "It's true," he repeated loudly, when Sam didn't react._

_When Sam shrugged out of his blazer, he had all eyes in the room trained on him. When he walked the few steps it took to place him directly in front of Derek the crowd was waiting with baited breath. And when he delivered a solid punch to Derek's jaw, nobody was the least bit surprised. _

_Derek flexed his stinging jaw, massaging it gently. "Good. Now that you've gotten that out of your system—_

"'_Out of my system?' Sam repeated voice eerily quiet. "I am going to kill you."_

_Sam's voice was so chillingly soft, so earnest, that Derek took a step back. For the first time since he was probably six he was actually afraid of somebody._

"_Sam, please, this slut isn't worth the jail time," Emily said coldly, effectively interrupting the boys and bringing the focus back to herself. _

"_Don't call me that," Casey commanded; it was obvious from her tone that she was tired of being painted as the whore of Babylon. There wasn't a trace of genuine remorse in her voice, she looked embarrassed and maybe a little ashamed, but nothing about her defensive posture screamed that she was actually sorry for what she had done. "I am not a slut, I—_

"_That's funny," Sharon said, moving behind her cousin, "I always heard that if it walks like a slut…"_

"_And fucks my man like a slut," Emily picked up where she left off._

_Casey snapped. "Your man?" she questioned before giving a mirthless laugh. "He was never your man," she said, and rolled her neck, she actually _rolled_ her neck. It was as if being confronted with all her wrongdoings was causing Casey's defenses to pop up. And anyone who was close to Casey knew that a defensive Casey was an angry Casey. _

"_Really?" she asked in mock confusion. "'Cause I think my engagement ring contradicts that statement," she said, waving her hand in front of Casey's face._

"_You mean _my_ engagement ring," she responded, lip curling triumphantly, until she noticed Emily's lips forming their own smile. _

_Emily shook her head and gave a brittle laugh; Casey had just confirmed her suspicions. "Yeah, 'D&C forever,' right? You really are an unbelievable bitch!" _

_Casey's hands flew to her hips and her stance became even more defensive if that was possible. "Look, I'm sorry that you and Sam had to find out the way you did- that's not what Derek and I wanted at all. You have every right to be mad at us for cheating and you can be mad at us for lying, but don't blame me because you were too blind to see what was right in front of your face. You really should have seen this coming," she added, more because she was trying to be hurtful, than because she truly believed it. _

_Emily stared at Casey for a long time, making both the crowd and her nemesis incredibly uneasy._

_Right when Casey opened her mouth to say something, Emily pulled back her fist and punched Casey in the face, sending her crashing to the floor._

"_Hmm, you really should have seen _that_ coming." Feeling like that was probably the best exit line she was going to have, Emily took one last look at Derek and quit the room with Sharon at her side._

"I can't believe you just left like that. Did you ever find out what happened after you left?" Lauren asked curiously. "That had to have only been the beginning of everything."

"Oh, I'm sure you're right," Emily conceded. "But I never did find out exactly what else happened, your father doesn't like to talk about it, and quite frankly, I never wanted to know," she said shrugging. "And I had to get out of there; I may have been putting on a good front for the crowd, but I really didn't have what it took to stay in the same room as Derek and Casey- at that moment I hated them."

"And now?" Tony asked softly.

"Oh, I still hate them, but for slightly different reasons," she answered, glancing at the door to Sam's den.

Emily stood up, stretched, and began gathering her discarded shoes and purse. When she began heading towards the stairs, the twins scrambled off the couch.

"Wait—that's not it, is it?"

"Aren't you going to tell us about you and Dad's relationship? You said you would tell us everything," Lauren asked, slightly put out by the snappy ending.

"I'm sorry, but," her voice broke, "I think I'm all talked out for today," she said sadly, making her way up the stairs. Long gone was the smile she'd worn when she had begun this portion of the story. Not having talked about the wedding rehearsal dinner in so long had caused her to forget that her one moment of glory, had ironically also been one of the worst moments of her life.

When their mother was gone, Lauren turned to her brother. "I don't know where we go from here…" she let her voice trail off and shrugged.

Tony's face was a mask of complete determination when he finally brought his gaze to his sister's face. "Mom's story may be done, but our work is far from over."

**TBC**

**Reviews Are Always Welcome**

**A/N:** Let me know what you thought. This was the hardest chapter for me to write.

I realize that everybody was OOC, but it went with the plot.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I can't believe I'm actually updating this quick.

This chapter did not turn out anything like I expected, but I like it anyway. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you have any questions.

Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.

OOOOOOOO

When Tony began marching towards the den, Lauren immediately fled her position on the couch and gave chase. Coming up on his heels, she grabbed his arm and used all her strength to halt him in place.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Tony looked at her as if she was an idiot. "Where does it look like I'm going? I need to talk to dad."

Lauren's hands flew to her hips and she straightened up to her full height. "I know seeing mom so sad upsets you, but if you think that I'm going to let you go pick a fight with daddy, you've got another thing coming," she said resolutely. She may have agreed with her brother when it came to his poor opinion of their father's behavior, but that didn't change the fact that she was just as much of a daddy's girl as Tony was a mama's boy.

Tony's eyes rolled at his twin's theatrics. "Who said anything about fighting? I really do just want to talk to him; I need him to tell us how he and mom got together."

"What makes you think that he'll tell us anything when he's never spoken to us about his past before?"

Tony was the picture of cockiness when he responded. "Two reasons: one- now that we know all about Derek and Casey; there is no reason for him to hold back anymore, and two: he's probably three sheets to the wind by now; drunk people are notorious for their loose lips."

Lauren's head shook back and forth in exasperation. "This was- is –a bad idea. Look at what talking about the past just reduced mom to—she was crying when she left."

Her brother shrugged, but the gesture didn't come off as careless as he had intended. His mother's distraught state had affected him more than he cared to admit. However, it was his job to look at the big picture. "Better to cry now than in a year when they're both sitting in divorce court."

Ren inhaled sharply and looked poised to retort, but her brother held up a silencing hand.

"That's where they're headed- straight to divorce court." Tony almost started to cry himself when he saw her bottom lip begin to tremble, but instead he placed a reassuring arm around her shoulders. "We can prevent it though. We are so close—mom practically got us all the way there. But if we want to help them, if we want to keep our family together, we need to know everything. Once we have all the facts we can figure out exactly what the problem is, and then we can fix it."

"We know what the problem is: our dad is stuck in the past and it's killing our mother."

"It's not as simple as that," he said in disagreement. But off the look she sent him, he backpedaled a bit. "Maybe it is that simple," he shrugged, "but we'll never know for certain unless we have the whole story, so let's go get it."

"Fine," she said, throwing up her hands in defeat, "lead the way."

When Tony attempted to open the den door he found, much to his surprise, that it was unlocked. Stepping inside, his sister in tow, he headed straight to the recliner in the corner that held his lightly snoring father. Tony kicked the lever on the side of the chair, bringing his father, none too gently, to an upright position and effectively waking him up at the same time. Lauren sent him a reproachful look, but didn't verbally object to his methods.

Sam squinted up at his children, his face looking perfectly perplexed.

"Tony? Lauren? Is something wrong?" Sam knew that his children would never dare to come into his den uninvited unless there was some type of emergency.

"Of course not. Why would anything be wrong? Tony asked, the sarcasm fairly dripping from his words.

Lauren gave her brother's arm a pinch before offering her father a sweet smile. "There is no crisis or anything, daddy. Tony and I just wanted to speak with you for a moment."

"What?" Sam asked, clearly upset at being awoken. "I ask for one lousy day a year and I can't even get that."

"That's right," Tony responded snidely, "you don't get that, not anymore. I'm taking it back for Lauren and me, but most importantly for mom."

"Daddy, we want to know how you and mom got together," Lauren said, taking over before her brother went completely off.

"Not today," their father said, face now devoid of any emotion.

"Yes, today. For once we are going to stop walking on eggshells around you and we're all going to be honest and forthright with each other."

Sam looked taken aback at the vehemence in his son's voice, but he allowed him to continue without interruption.

"Mom told us pretty much everything about the two of you and your respective relationships with Derek and Casey, but she stopped her story at the night of yours and Casey's rehearsal dinner." Tony noticed the look of utter shock on his father's face, but even that couldn't deter him. "But she refused to go into your relationship with each other and how it began. That's what we need you for; you have to tell us how the two of you came to be an item. Now," he demanded.

Sam just stared at his son for a moment. He seriously considered telling the boy to "go get a switch" as punishment for his outright disrespect. But his "boy" wasn't a boy anymore; he was a young man trying to protect his mother and his entire family. Even in his current inebriated state, which was a result of his own selfishness, Sam couldn't help respecting him.

"Sit down," he commanded. "Craning your neck to talk to somebody is a pain in the ass."

To say that Tony and Lauren were amazed at how quick their father had agreed to talk to them would've been an understatement. However, they quickly sat down, choosing not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"_Sam," Emily called through the door, "are you decent? I'm gonna come inside in like two minutes and I don't want to see anything I shouldn't."_

_Sam winced at the happiness in her voice; he just didn't know how she did it. After his fiasco of a rehearsal dinner, her parents had whisked her away to her aunt's house for the remainder of summer break. When she returned to school at the beginning of the fall semester he noticed that the sparkle was gone from her eyes and the spring in her step was noticeably missing, but she still seemed to be in way better shape than he was. _

_They lived in the same dorm, and he would occasionally see her walking around with friends or heading off to class. It was all _he_ could do to drag himself out of bed in the mornings. Sam was seriously considering dropping out and taking a semester off- his class attendance was sporadic and at the rate he was going he was probably going to flunk out anyway. He just couldn't bring himself to care about anything anymore._

"_I'm coming in," Emily warned, before letting herself into the apartment. Taking a look around, she was not surprised to see his dorm in the same messy, disgusting state that it had been in for the past week._

_One week- that's how long she had been coming over to his place. Sam and her had never been best friends, but they did hang out before the whole Derek/Casey blow up, so when school started back and two weeks passed without Emily seeing hide nor hair of him she decided to investigate. What she found was both disturbing and upsetting. Sam was a shell of himself—gone was the happy boy she had known since she was six and in his place was a man who didn't seem to be able to do the simplest thing for himself. It wasn't even so much that he didn't seem to be able to take care of himself anymore; it was more like he didn't care enough to want to. That is why she had started coming over to his room everyday, she wanted to make sure that he made a full recovery, she owed him that much at least. Emily still felt a little guilty about her part in the rehearsal dinner catastrophe; there had been a better way to handle the situation. _

"_I brought you a plate," she said, placing a hot plate of pot roast and vegetables on the coffee table before him. Glancing at his kitchen, she couldn't help but sigh. "It's nice to see you haven't strained yourself by washing any of the dishes from the other meals I brought you. I do want those plates back." _

_She got no response from Sam, but she hadn't really expected one. Emily always did most of the talking during these little visits. She would fill Sam in on what she had done that day, crack a few lame jokes, and then maybe turn on the television and force him to watch whatever movie was on Lifetime. _

"_I think I'll clean up a little bit, the mess is making me uncomfortable." Emily was no neat freak, but at the rate Sam was going somebody was going to call the health department and report him soon._

"_You don't have to do that," he barked, when she began picking up the stray articles of clothing that were strewn about the room._

"_Somebody has too, I—_

"_I know you're trying to help, but I really wish you would leave," he cut in, quietly._

_Emily's mouth dropped open in surprise. Sure, he always looked a little annoyed when she was over, but he had never asked her to leave before._

"_But—_

"_Get out!" _

_Emily was taken aback at his harsh tone. When her bottom lip began to tremble a little, Sam felt immediately repentant. He didn't want to hurt her feelings; he just really did want to be alone. Sam had been having a particularly rough day- that morning he had gotten a special delivery: Casey's engagement ring. She mailed it to him, no note, and no card, just the diamond ring he had scrimped and saved for a year to buy her. _

_But none of that was Emily's fault. He knew he had to apologize._

"_Emily, I'm—_

"_Sam," she interrupted calmly, "you can yell and you can give me the silent treatment, but I'm not going anywhere. You need a friend right now; somebody's got to pull you out of this funk. I know it hurts—God knows _I _know it hurts—but we have to move on. We can help each other." Sam looked like he wanted to say something, but Emily continued right on speaking as if she didn't notice. "Now sit down and eat while I clean up."_

_Sam narrowed his eyes, but he did as he was told._

"So, what, you two bonded over your shared misery and her need to help you?" Tony asked, wishing his father would speed it up.

"Can I finish?" Sam asked, annoyed at his son's insolence.

"Please do," he mumbled wryly.

_Sam was getting antsy; it was already eight-thirty and Emily wasn't at his apartment yet. She had been coming over everyday for the past three months without fail; he was starting to worry. Sure he still didn't talk much, but he was now attending class on a regular basis and he had taken to keeping his place at least moderately clean. He owed it all to Emily, her motivation kept him going. _So where the hell was she?

_He didn't want to seem needy, but he had no other choice- he had to call her cell phone. _

_When she answered on the fourth ring he bypassed the customary greeting and blurted out, "Where are you?"_

"_On a date," she replied, confused by his angry tone._

"_A date?" he echoed dumbly. _

"_Yeah. This guy from my sociology class asked me out," she explained. "Wait," she began, a thought suddenly occurring to her, "is something wrong?" Emily could count the number of times Sam had called her on one hand and she had known him for over ten years. _

"_Nothing is wrong. I had just expected you to come over, that's all," he replied, as nonchalantly as he could. _

"_Well," she said, and Sam could actually hear the shrug in her voice, "you never really talk or anything and it wasn't like we had something planned. I didn't really think you'd care."_

"_I don't," he assured her. "Bye," he said, hanging up abruptly before she could respond._

_Sam couldn't really explain what he was feeling. It wasn't jealousy—jealousy was an old friend, he knew exactly how _it_ felt—what he was experiencing now was entirely different. He felt bereft without Emily's company. He had grown accustomed to her nonsensical chatter, crummy taste in TV, and her need to feed him until he felt ready to bust. Without her there he just didn't know what to do with himself._

"So what did you end up doing?" Lauren asked curiously.

"I got rid of the sociology guy and all other distractions, or rather I got Emily to get rid of them."

"How'd you do that?"

"I lied," he said simply.

_Sam actually felt a little guilty this time. Telling Emily that Derek had called him up just to rub his face in his and Casey's relationship just so she would ditch her friends at the bowling alley and come over had been low, even for him. But it had worked. He knew Emily and he knew that she had developed this mother-hen complex ever since her break up with Derek. She loved taking care of people—she needed for people to need her—which was perfect, because Sam wanted to be taken care of. _

"_What did Derek say- what were his exact words?" she grilled Sam, as she slipped out of her jacket._

"_I don't want to talk about it," he said putting on a sad face. "It was really awful."_

"_What an ass! I mean, really, ass isn't even the right word. Ass is too good for him," she declared, chest heaving in agitation. But when she took a good look at the pitiful look on Sam's face, she rushed over to him. "Sorry; I won't mention it again. Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned, before pulling him into a hug._

"_I am, now that you're here," he said softly, rubbing her back. _

_His previous statement wasn't part of his act- he was okay now that she was there. He had realized about a month ago that he needed her, genuinely needed her in his life. He wasn't in love with her, but he did love her, and he had recently come to the conclusion that they were perfect for each other. During the past five months Emily had proven herself to be loyal to a fault. He knew instinctively that the chances of finding another girl who would put up with his mood swings and still take care of him were slim to none. That is why he wanted Emily._

_He knew that she wasn't in love with him yet— that she fall in love with him was imperative, for he knew that she would never enter into another relationship unless she was sure that a real love was present on both sides—but it was just a matter of time before that happened. From watching her relationship with Derek, Sam knew that all he had to do was convince Emily that she was the only girl for him and that he legitimately needed her and she would fall in love with him. And even though he wasn't in love with her he knew that she was the girl for him. _

_Lately he had taken to calling her when he knew she was out with other guys or her friends- she never said it, but he had the feeling that it was starting to annoy people. Sam wanted them to be annoyed; he wanted them to go away. He didn't like to analyze himself too closely, but he was of the opinion that Casey's constant disregard for his feelings and the way she perpetually ignored him during their relationship had caused him to develop some kind of need for constant attention. Emily could be what Casey never was, the perfect girlfriend. _

_He wasn't completely selfish though, in return he would give her everything she deserved. Sam had no desire to stray—cheating was never his thing—and he would provide for her and appreciate her in a way that Derek never had. _

_Sam may have not been in love with Emily yet, but he was confidant that he would be one day. _

Lauren could feel the anger radiating off from her brother's body. Placing a placating hand on his arm, she attempted to calm him, but he shrugged her away and stood up.

"Let me get this straight," he began, towering over his still seated father, "you only got involved with mom because she was the only girl who would put up with your whiny crap? You weren't even in love with her?" he asked in disgust.

"No, not in the beginning," he admitted, "but things changed. I am completely in love with your mother now."

"No, you're not," Tony said, incredulous at his father's words. "Look around you; we are in your den grilling you because you're still obsessed with Casey. You _couldn't_ be in love with mom and hurt her like this."

"It's not like that—

"Yes it is," Lauren snapped, interrupting him. She got up from her seat and stood next to her brother. "We gave you the benefit of the doubt—mom gave you the benefit of the doubt. We let you have your 'day,'" she said, using air quotes. "And we let you have your precious song," she yelled before marching over to the CD player and pushing it off his mantle. "But you haven't overcome _anything_," she spat. "All you've done is convinced yourself that what you felt for Casey is long gone, but you have got to know that isn't true."

"It is true," their father growled, standing up. "You kids don't understand—

"I understand perfectly," Lauren hissed. "I understand that you're delusional; I understand that you cut mom off from her friends so that she would grow as attached to you as you had grown to her; and I understand that you tricked mom into loving you. You are a _selfish_ bastard."

The slap came so fast that nobody really saw it coming; even Sam seemed surprised by his own actions.

Tony took one look at his twin clutching the side of her newly reddened cheek and a rage like he had never known began to burn deep within his chest.

Sam took a step towards his daughter. "Lauren, I'm—

He was interrupted by an irate Tony grabbing him by the front of his shirt. "If you ever"—he gave his father a shake—"touch my sister again I will butcher you."

Emily had stood frozen at the door for a moment, paralyzed by all she had seen, all she had heard. But these words shook her out of her daze.

"Tony," she said sharply, rapidly approaching her son, "let your father go, now."

All three of them turned to the newly arrived Emily, nobody had heard the den door open, and nobody had any idea how long she had been there or what she had heard.

"Emily, I can explain. This is all a big misunderstanding," Sam said desperately.

Emily shook her head back and forth while tears streamed down her face. "Get your shit, and get out of my house."

**TBC…**

**Reviews Are Always Welcome! **


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This chapter may be more confusing than most. Sam has a flashback in this chapter, and during his flashback there are three mini flashbacks- all flashbacks are in italics. Only present day stuff is normal.

Disclaimer: I own lots of things, but not LWD.

OOOOOOOO

The room was engulfed in silence following Emily's words. Everyone seemed frozen in place: Lauren's sniffles had subsided and she was now gaping at her mother; Tony was still clutching his father, but his attention was solely on his mom.

Sam was the first to react; shaking out of his son's grasp he took a few steps in his wife's direction but his path was quickly obstructed by Tony.

"Are you gonna slap her too?"

Sam shifted his gaze from his wife to his son. "No. But I am seriously considering giving you a good old fashioned whooping."

"I'd like to see you try," Tony responded, taking a menacing step in his father's direction.

"Stop it," Emily commanded, trying to prevent a brawl. "Tony, take your sister into the kitchen, get her some ice, and then stay there."

"But mom—

"Just do it. I want to talk to your father alone."

With one last threatening look to Sam, Tony ushered his sister out the den closing the door as they departed.

Sam sighed. "Look, I know that I shouldn't have hit Lauren, but is that really a reason to kick me out of the house. I mean—

Emily held up a hand, signaling him to be silent. "Sam, don't be ridiculous. I heard her call you a selfish bastard; I can only imagine what my father would have done if I had ever cursed at him- swearing at your parents is completely out of bounds."

Sam looked relieved. "Good. So you understand. I knew you—

"However," she said, cutting him off, "just because I understand doesn't mean that I support your actions. There is always a reason to hit anybody, but sometimes you just shouldn't do it. Just because I understand, that does not change the fact that I want you out of my house, immediately."

"B-b-but why?"

"Are you that dense?" she asked, voice tight, as she tried to retain some semblance of control over her emotions. "I heard you! I heard you admit that you weren't in love me; you used me to fill some hole that Casey left in your heart."

"I may have misled you in the beginning," he admitted, sounding guilty. "But that changes nothing- we're still married and I _am_ in love with you now, so let's just move on with our lives."

"That changes everything," she said, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. "Our relationship was based on a lie. How do I even know that you're not lying now? How can I believe you when you say you're in love with me?"

Sam slammed his fist down on his desk in frustration. "Just trust me, damnit! Forget the past, and trust me."

Incredulous, Emily's eyes widened to the size of saucers. If she had been pissed before, she had just reached a level of pissed that was previously unknown to her. _Was he serious?_ "_I_ need to forget the past?" Walking over to the now ruined CD player, Emily took out Jim Croce's Greatest Hits and made sure Sam was looking at her before breaking the disc in half. "Your favorite song is about a man who can't seem to get over his girlfriend leaving him and running off with his best friend- and I need to forget the past?"

"Emily," Sam attempted to interrupt, but she was too busy searching threw his desk drawers to pay him any attention.

Finding what she was looking for, Emily pulled out a brown scrapbook and held it up for him to see.

"How did you know about that?" Sam asked sounding half-angry and half-guilty.

Emily ignored his question. "Every night you lock yourself in the den so that you can flip through your scrapbook and play the 'what could have been' game- and I need to forget the past? Well,"—she dug around in her pockets and pulled out a lighter—"you first," she said, before setting the book on fire and tossing it carelessly to the ground.

Sam rushed forward, putting out the fire with the soles of his dress shoes.

"Jesus, Emily! Have you lost your mind?"

A maniacal laugh escaped Emily's lips. "Oh, I must have been crazy to think that a man may actually be in love with me and not Casey."

Sam grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her. "I am in love with you; you—not Casey," he said, looking into her eyes, willing her to believe him.

"I wanna know when," she said suddenly.

"When what?" Sam asked in confusion. When she didn't answer, but just stared back at him, eyes wide and blank, he wondered if he had in fact driven his wife over the edge. "Emily," he called softly, making an attempt to reach her.

"You say you're in love with me…"

"I am," he responded readily.

"But we both now know that you weren't always, so I want to know when—when exactly did you fall in love with me?"

Sam abruptly released her and took a step back. "It doesn't matter when—

"It matters to me," she whispered, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall at any moment.

"Fine," he snapped, rubbing his face in his hands. He knew that once he told her there was a good chance that she would become even more upset. That was a chance he had to take, though. Sam was too scared of what would happen if he didn't tell her.

_Sam couldn't help but sigh happily as he entered his car. He may have only been a lawyer for a year, but in that year he had never been so happy to be on recess during a trial as he was now. His client was innocent—Sam knew that for a fact—but there was just so much circumstantial evidence against him. And any defense attorney worth his salt knew that it was hardly a tough feat for the prosecution to get a conviction with circumstantial evidence alone. If Sam wanted his client acquitted he was going to have to do one hell of a job tomorrow. _

_Flipping open his cell phone, Sam turned it back on. If there was one thing judges detested it was phones ringing in their courtrooms—that was a surefire way for a lawyer to be held in contempt. When the screen came up, Sam was surprised to see a message informing him that he had five new voicemails- most people he knew would rather hang up than leave a message. Mentally shrugging, he began to play his messages: "You have five new messages. First message: 'Sam, I need'"—the first message abruptly ended. "Second message: 'Sam, this is your mother-in-law. Emily's at St. Vincent's Hospital. There has been an accident, but'"—Mrs. Davis's voice immediately died as he heard his phone beep, signaling that the battery had just died._

_Sam's mind was reeling. Emily had been in an accident? He thought that she had been the person talking on the first message, but the speaker's voice had been so strained and distorted that he had been unable to tell. He had to get to her and find out what was happening._

_Forcing his key into the ignition, Sam switched his car to the 'on' position and threw it into gear, burning rubber as he tore out of the parking lot. _

_Speeding towards the hospital, body practically shaking with worry, Sam's mind flooded with thoughts of his wife. _

_Their first kiss…_

_Emily's lip twitched at the predatory gleam in Sam's eyes. "You know, it almost looks like you want to kiss me right now."_

_Sam smiled. "That's funny, 'cause I was just about to say that it looked like you wanted me to kiss you right now."_

"_Maybe I do…" she shrugged, letting her voice trail off._

"_Well, maybe I want to kiss you."_

"_You may want to, but you won't do it." She gave him an appraising look. "You're not aggressive enough," she said, and couldn't help but laugh at the look of mock-anger that sprung to his face. _

"_It almost sounded like you were challenging my manhood…"_

"_That's exactly what I was doing," she said, before giving in to the smile that had been tugging at her lips._

"_Well, now I have to kiss you," he declared, advancing towards her._

"_Good," she said, leaning up and meeting his lips with her own. It may have not been something full of heat and passion—something out of a romance novel—but it was sweet and 'sweet' was something that they could both use._

_His marriage proposal…_

_When Emily returned from the restroom and saw the plate of desert waiting on her, she lifted an eyebrow at Sam. "I thought you were getting the check and we were leaving."_

"_Sit down," he instructed. Once she complied, he continued. "This desert was just too tempting to pass up. So try it."_

_Emily regarded him oddly. "If it's so 'tempting' why aren't you having any?"_

"_I'm stuffed," he answered simply. _

"_I'm stuffed too," she shot back. "If we send it back now we can probably get it taken off the bill."_

_Sam rolled her eyes at his ever frugal girlfriend. "It's like four bucks; I really don't mind paying for it. So just eat it."_

"_But—_

"_Just eat the damn thing," he growled in frustration._

"_Fine!" Emily snapped. She picked up her fork and severed a miniscule piece off the end and raised it to her mouth. "Happy now?" she asked, rubbing her stomach sarcastically. _

"_Take a real bite," he demanded, barely able to hide the frustration in his voice. He was beyond irritated- the girl just had to make everything difficult._

_Emily's eyes narrowed, but she did as he instructed and slammed her fork into the center of her slice of cake. When she heard the sound of metal hitting metal she thought she had scraped the plate, but when she removed the fork she saw a white gold diamond engagement ring on the end._

"_S-s-sam, is that what I think it is?"_

"_Yes. Emily Davis, will you marry me?" he asked nervously._

_Emily didn't even have to think about her answer. "Of course I will."_

_The night before their wedding…_

_Sam didn't know what he was doing. He should have been in bed dreaming about the wedding that was going to take place in less than eight hours, but instead he was knocking frantically on his soon-to-be wife's hotel room door. Sick, disgusted, depressed, that's how Sam felt- not tired. There was no doubt in his mind that he and Emily made the perfect couple and would have a great marriage, but he was having second thoughts about standing up in front of their friends, family, and God, and lying about being in love with her. He had to talk to her—he had no idea what he was going to say or what he expected her to say—but he had to see her anyway._

"_Sam? What the hell?" Emily's cousin, and maid of honor, Sharon asked as she swung the door open._

"_I need to see Emily," he said, choosing not to greet Sharon. Sam wasn't dumb; he knew Sharon didn't like him. He just didn't know why._

_Sharon pretended not to hear him. Leaning against the doorframe lazily, she regarded him coolly. "Are you here to call off the wedding?" she asked seriously. _

"_What?" he asked genuinely shocked. "Why would you ask me that?"_

"_Because you look like you're having second thoughts," she said honestly, seeing more than he was comfortable with. "I can't figure you out," she said, slightly switching gears. "You claim to be in love with Emily, but you sure don't look like a man in love."_

"_Oh, really, how should I look then?"_

"_Happy," she said softly._

_Sam was entirely uncomfortable with the way she was looking at him—it was like she could see into his heart and mind. It was unnerving… it was creepy._

_Sam threw his hands up in surrender. "Whatever; never mind." But when he turned to walk away, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back._

_When he lifted a questioning brow at her, she spoke._

"_Emily and I have a lot of cousins…"_

"_So…"_

"_So, we have a lot of cousins, but we're the only girls." When he still looked confused, she expanded. "Our cousins are very overprotective… and when they get mad, well, even Emily and I can't get them to calm down. So just remember that." _

_Sam remained outwardly calm, but he had taken her not so subtle threat to heart. _

"_Since you seem to need it, you have my word that I'll be a good husband. Your cousins' services are no longer required; I'll be protecting Emily now."_

_This time he did leave, and as he walked down the hall, he heard Sharon mutter, "You better."_

_OOOOO_

_Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Sam whipped his car into the first available parking spot he found and ran up to the hospital. As he sprinted up to the Emergency Room entrance he couldn't help but berate himself- he had failed to protect Emily. _

_Sam slammed his fist onto the desk at the check-in. "Where is my wife?"_

"_Sir?" the nurse on duty asked, frightened a little._

"_My wife, where is she?" he barked._

_Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he spun around quickly, almost knocking his mother-in-law to the ground in the process. _

"_Mrs. Davis how is Emily?"_

"_Well, I have some bad news…_

"This is all good and well," Emily cut in, "but could we maybe get to the part where you miraculously decided you were in love with me?"

"When your mother said she had some 'bad news' I"—he paused, unsure of how to word what he had felt at that moment, but off of Emily's impatient look he made another attempt to explain. "For a split second, after she said that, I thought the worse. My phone had died; I didn't get to hear her message explaining that you had been in a car accident and you may have broken your arm and bruised a couple of ribs. All kinds of crazy things were going through my mind…" he trailed off.

Emily's eyes were blazing, when she said, "let me guess, the thought that I may be dead and the prospect of living without me made you realize that you were in love with me?" she asked, voice eerily even.

"Well, yeah."

Emily walked up to him smiling, and thinking that he had won her over with his tale, he held open his arms expectantly. But instead of a hug, he got a punch in the stomach.

"What the hell?" he asked, doubling over in pain.

"Two years," she screeched. "Two years, that's how long we had been married when I got into that accident."

"Emily, I'm—

"Two years of lies. Two years of empty words. God!" she blasphemed, balling her hands into fists in frustration. "You are just like Derek," she declared, pointing at him. "In fact, you're worse," she corrected, spitefully. "At least he didn't marry me knowing he wasn't in love with me."

Sam was in front of her in seconds, grabbing both her arms and shaking her. "Don't say that," he demanded angrily. "Don't ever say that; I am nothing like _him_."

"Let. Me. Go." She commanded, with quiet determination.

Realizing what he was doing, Sam immediately released her. "Emily, I'm—

She just looked at him; her face was distorted by hurt. His story had made what needed to be done crystal clear. "It's time, Sam. Call your brother, tell him to bring his truck, and help you get your stuff."

"But—

"Two years," was all Emily said, before quitting the den.

Sam couldn't help but notice that she didn't even sound angry anymore- she sounded broken. And it was his fault.

**TBC…**

**A/N:** Guys, this is almost over. Just one more chapter, I think. We'll see what happens…

**Reviews Are Always Welcome!**


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: This isn't the last chapter, I lied. There are no flashbacks in this chapter, but people's thoughts and stressed words are in italics. This chapter seems odd to me, but work with me. There is a reason for everything that happens- if something doesn't make sense now, it should later.

Disclaimer: Sure, why not?

OOOOOOOO

Tony couldn't help but sigh as he regarded his sleeping mother. Even in slumber she seemed to be frowning.

This just wasn't how things were supposed to be. Sam had been gone for a month and during that time his mother had gotten steadily worse, not better. It wasn't like she would lock herself in her room and stuff her face with chocolates and ice cream, and she wasn't perpetually crying, but you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know that she was upset.

Emily went to work everyday, then she came home and cleaned the house and fixed dinner—but that was all she did. There was no hanging out with Sharon, or going to the movies, or calling her parents on the phone—hell, Tony wasn't even sure if his grandparents knew what was going on.

Tony couldn't help but feel that his mother's misery was at least partly his fault; he may not have caused his parent's break up, but he sure did set things in motion. There was also the fact that he had almost hoped that Sam would be kicked out. Tony had long held the belief that he could take care of his mother and sister better than his father ever had—but so far he was failing.

Watching his mother toss and turn on the couch, Tony knew what had to be done. He had gotten this mess started, and he had to at least try to put an end to it.

Walking over to Emily, he knelt beside her, nudging her arm until she slowly woke up.

"Tony," she said groggily, "what's wrong?"

"Mom," he sighed, "it's a Saturday morning and you're taking a nap, that's what's wrong." Emily sat up, looking confused, and stared at her son as he continued. "You're always taking a nap, or frowning, or sighing, or mumbling under your breath; I think you're depressed," he said seriously.

Emily gave a mirthless chuckle. "That is what's worrying you? Your father and I have only been separated for a month; I think I'm allowed to be depressed for a few weeks."

"If you kicked dad out because you were miserable with him here, shouldn't you be feeling better now that he's gone? I mean, wasn't that the whole point?"

Emily shook her head at her son—bless his heart, he just didn't understand. "I was never miserable with your father. Was I unhappy? Sure. Unappreciated? Of course. But despite how your father made me feel, and as pathetic as it may make me seem," she said, smiling wryly, "I am still in love with your father. I probably always will be."

That wasn't exactly what Tony wanted to hear, but it did make finding the right advice to give her much easier.

"Then take him back," Tony said, as if it was the perfect solution. He knew it wouldn't be as easy as his tone implied it would be, but if that's what it would take to make his mother happy again then that's what would have to be done. "You know he wants to come home," he added as further incentive. Sam hadn't stop calling since he moved in with his brother. And it was obvious from the begging messages he left on the answering machine that he desperately wanted his family back.

"I can't 'take him back,' nothing has been resolved. I'm still not positive how he feels about me or Casey." As much as she did love Sam, Emily had no desire to get back into a marriage where everything was up in the air. When/if she ever got back together with Sam, she would have to be certain about a few things.

"If nothing has been resolved, then resolve it. You know that you won't be happy until you do." And with that, Tony got up and headed for the stairs, leaving his mother to mull over everything. He'd said his piece; the rest was up to her.

Emily chewed her lip thoughtfully as she watched her son make his way towards his room. She knew that he meant well, but how on earth was she supposed to resolve everything? There was no way she could be sure how Sam really felt. Unless…

She gave an involuntary shudder as an impossible thought occurred to her. There was one thing she could do, but even the thought of it made her feel a little queasy. Stealing herself, she pushed away her doubt and grabbed the cordless phone from the end table and dialed a number that she had memorized long ago, but had thought she would ever have the nerve to dial.

Tony was right—it was time to resolve some things.

OOOOOOOO

Sitting at a grimy table at some dive diner that she often passed when going to visit her parents, Emily still couldn't believe what she was doing. But it was too late to turn back; she had made the call and now she had to see it through.

She glanced at her watch and let out a shaky breath. For a minute she thought that maybe her companion wasn't coming, but then she felt someone slide into the seat across from her.

Emily schooled her face into a blank mask before looking up; she refused to let her ex best friend see any weakness on her face.

When their eyes met, they just stared at each other for a moment, taking in all the changes that time had wrought. As petty as it was, Emily couldn't help but get madder as she looked at Casey's face—she had aged well. _Bitch_. If there was any justice in the world, Casey would look like an old hag. But time had been kind to her; no doubt she still probably had a few guys trailing after her.

"You came," she said, and it was easy to hear the surprise in her voice.

Casey looked as nervous and uncomfortable as Emily felt. "I said I would, didn't I?"

Emily shrugged. "You used to say a lot of things, that didn't necessarily make them true." There was a distinct edge to her voice, and Casey had no problem picking up on her hostility.

"Look, if you asked me to meet you just so you could lay into me I'm leaving," she said, and began gathering her discarded purse. Casey had enough people getting on her case and picking out her faults, she didn't need one more.

When Casey made to stand, showing Emily that she was serious, Emily sighed and grabbed her arm, pulling Casey back into her seat.

"That's not why I called you. Actually, I uh… need a favor," she mumbled.

A favor? That was the last thing Casey had been expecting—not that Casey had been expecting anything in particular though. She had been racking her brain since Emily had called her, trying to figure out what she could possible want to talk about.

When Casey remained silent, Emily continued. "I need you to go see Sam." Casey's jaw practically hit the table, it dropped open so far, but Emily soldiered on. "I need you to see him, talk to him, hell, maybe even go on a date with him or kiss him; I need to see how he feels about you. And if there is a chance that he still wants you or you still want him, then I want you two to be together." That last part had been excruciatingly hard for Emily to get out, but she meant it. She was totally in love with her husband, but she needed to test his feelings for her. And if he and Casey did end up being together, well then at least she could say that she had loved him enough to let him be happy.

Casey blinked several times before replying. "Wow…I, um… wow. Yeah, I don't think I can do that. I don't think my husband would like me kissing another man, especially my ex fiancé." Casey was just glad she had been able to get out a coherent sentence; Emily's request had blown her away.

Emily's eyes immediately shot to Casey's left hand and she gasped when she took sight of the eerily familiar ring on her finger. "Wait- who are you married to?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

"Derek," she murmured quietly, unable to keep the guilt out of her voice.

Emily shouldn't have been that shocked, but she was. It had never occurred to her that Casey and Derek would actually get married. She thought that their romance would fizzle out, or that they'd drive each other crazy. In her mind, those two were just too volatile and different to have a long-term relationship. Plus, there was hat little matter of them being related—_how did that even work_?

Attempting to shift the conversation before Emily asked her about the ring she was wearing; Casey asked a question of her own. "If you want me to go see Sam, y'all must've kept in touch pretty well. Um… how is he doing?"

Emily had the strangest urge to laugh; this would almost be funny, if it wasn't so horribly awkward and serious.

"Sam's not doing too well, his wife kicked him out. He's staying at his brother's house," she said, matter-of-factly.

Casey frowned in confusion. Why was Emily trying to get her to go out with Sam if he was married? Unless… "Wait- who is Sam married to?"

"Me."

It took everything in Casey not to faint—_how on earth did the two of them ever get together?_ She waited for Emily to elaborate, and when she didn't Casey couldn't stop herself from digging deeper. "Okaaay. If you don't mind me asking, why did you kick him out?"

Emily leaned forward in her seat. "Because he's obsessed with you," she answered, and Casey's eyes widened comically. "Maybe 'obsessed' is too strong of a word, but he does have unresolved feelings when it comes to you. He claims to be in love with me, and only me, but I'm not so sure."

This didn't make any sense to Casey. If she thought Derek was in love with another woman, the _last_ thing she would do would be to send the other woman to seduce him—that was asking for trouble.

"If you think he's into me, why would you ask _me_ to go see him?" she blurted out.

"Because I need – no, I deserve – to know how my husband feels about me. With Derek I thought I knew how he felt, but look how that turned out." Casey's face instantly became remorseful, but Emily ignored it. "I won't make the same mistake twice." Technically, she supposed that she had already made that mistake twice, but this time she could correct it. "I refuse to be hurt anymore."

"But what if I was single and he had chosen me?"

"Then at least one of us would have been happy," Emily joked lamely, but even as she said it her heart broke a little more.

Casey stared at Emily then. She had often thought about her ex friend and wondered how she was doing. As she had aged, Casey had matured considerably, and it was now so easy to see how callously she had behaved all those years ago. Make no mistake, she didn't regret choosing to be with Derek, but if she could do it over again she would do everything differently.

"Emily, I wish I could help," she said genuinely, "but like I said—

"That's okay," Emily cut in. "This was stupid"—she shook her head—"I don't know what I was thinking." She dropped a couple of bucks on the table even though she hadn't ordered anything, and stood. "Imagine, calling _you_ for help," she chuckled, "what was I thinking?" She turned to leave, but Casey called out to her.

"Emily, wait!"

When Emily turned to her expectantly, Casey clamped her lips shut, and as the silence lingered on she even began to blush. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say, but she knew that she didn't want Emily to leave just yet. She knew that Emily probably loathed her, and their meeting had been beyond awkward, but it was still… nice, in its own way. Casey didn't have many friends these days-- being a social pariah sort of did that to a person. It had been nice talking to someone, who wasn't Derek, or her kids, or coworkers, even if that someone had been hostile during the entire conversation.

"Maybe we could uh… do this again some time?"

"Do what?" Emily asked, confused.

"I don't know… talk, or something," she shrugged, terribly uncomfortable.

_Was she on crack? _"Sure," Emily mumbled, willing to say anything to get out of there. In Emily's mind, Casey was lucky that she hadn't slapped her as soon as she had seen her again. _Yeah, I'll talk to you again, as soon as hell freezes over._

She turned to go, only to be stopped a second time.

"Wait- how exactly did you get my number?"

"I did a zaba search; that's why I didn't know you were married they had you listed under your maiden name. You can find anyone on that web page."

"Oh," Casey said dumbly.

This time Emily hauled ass out of there before Casey could think of something else to ask her.

As Casey watched Emily practically fly out of the diner, she couldn't help but scowl. She wasn't an idiot; she could hear the obvious lie in Emily's "sure." Maybe it had been naïve of her to think that Emily would be willing to talk to her again, but now that the idea had occurred to her, Casey was determined to make things right with Emily. She had to patch things up, or at least try to. She owed Emily, and maybe she never would be able to completely gain her forgiveness, but she had to put forth the effort.

They already weren't friends, so what did she have to loose?

Pulling out her cell phone, Casey decided to do a zaba search of her own.

OOOOOOOO

As Casey knocked on the familiar front door, she gave a small chuckle- this day was just full of surprises. If somebody had told her when she woke that morning that by the afternoon she would be standing on this particular doorstep trying to do her best friend from high school a solid, she would have laughed in their face.

After a couple of minutes of knocking, she started to get impatient. Somebody had to be home—there were lights on and a car was in the driveway. When her hand started to turn red from banging, she brought it down and tried turning the knob. The door was unlocked, so she let herself in. She felt a little bad about just walking into somebody else's house, but drastic times called for drastic measures.

Casey looked around but didn't see anybody in the living room or kitchen, and her multiple calls went unanswered. But then she heard a familiar tune, she couldn't place it, but she knew that she had heard the song before. Following the sound, Casey headed upstairs-- the music growing louder with every step she took.

She found him in the first room to her left. Eyes closed, flask in one hand and the other hand clutching his heart, Sam was singing along to the lyrics: "Baby I'm thinking of you / Trying to be more of a man for you…

He kept singing, but Casey was trying to tune him out. His words were slurred and his voice comically deep as he did a karaoke-style impression of Lenny Williams. That's how she knew that song—"Cause I Love You" had been a karaoke standard in her college years.

When she couldn't take anymore, Casey walked over to the CD player and turned it off.

When a drunken and dazed Sam finally noticed that the music was off and opened his eyes, Casey was standing directly in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"If you were doing that a lot, it's no wonder that she kicked you out."

"C-C-Casey?" Sam stuttered, unintelligibly. If he hadn't have been sitting, he would have fallen down. Like Emily, the last time he had seen Casey was at his rehearsal dinner.

Immediately his gaze flew to her left hand—he had to know.

"So you married him?"

Sam was looking more sober by the second. Casey supposed that seeing your ex fiancé was probably a good buzz killer.

She sighed. "That would be the first thing you ask me; maybe Emily was right."

Casey regarded him speculatively. He did look miserable, but whether that was a result of the way things had ended with her, or Emily, she wasn't sure.

"Look," she said, getting down to business, "I don't think you were ever in love with me; you were in love with who you thought I was."

"You mean, who you made me think you were," he said accusingly.

"Maybe," she conceded. "But we can talk about how I royally screwed you over another day— right now I'm here for Emily."

Sam almost fainted again. "You spoke to Emily- my Emily?"

"Well, I spoke to the Emily who put you out of her house," she said, barely suppressing her amusement. Maybe she was twisted, but something about all of this was almost fun, or maybe funny. "But that's besides the point"—Sam didn't agree, but he chose not to interrupt—"I need to test a theory, so stand up."

"Why? Is it _too_ easy to kick me while I'm down?"

"Ha ha. Now, stand up."

Sam was truly outdone by her nerve. _She_ had cheated on him; _she_ had chosen someone else; _she_ had blown off all his attempts at reconciling; and now she was in his house telling him what to do. He wanted to resist, but his damn curiosity got the better of him. Sighing, and questioning his own sanity, he stood up.

Before he could ask what she planned on doing, she leaned in and attached her lips to his. After a moment, his initial surprise wore off and she felt him begin to relax. Deciding that if she was going to do this, she had better do it right, Casey ran her tongue along his lips until he gave her access to his mouth. It didn't last long, and oddly enough Sam was the first to push away.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, and Casey could hear the anger vibrating in his voice, but she remained calm as she replied.

"You can get all huffy and indignant later, but right now I need you to focus. What did you feel when we kissed?"

Sam felt, well, odd: his head wasn't fuzzy; his lips weren't tingling; he could form coherent thoughts. He couldn't believe it. He had felt… nothing.

"I didn't feel anything," he told her, clearly shocked. There was a part of him that had been worried that he had been lying to his wife and himself when he told her that she was the only one that he loved. Now he was sure that he had been telling the truth.

But the happiness of his revelation was short lived- _what if it was too late_. Emily had kicked him out.

Seeming to read his mind, Casey said, "It's not too late. Emily never would have called me, her arch nemesis, and asked me to go on this fact finding mission if she didn't want you back too."

"But I've tried calling, and—

"Well keep trying," Casey cut in. "From what I can tell, Emily is the best thing that ever happened to you, so quit whining and go get your wife back before she realizes how much better she could do."

And just like that Casey was gone. Sam had to pinch himself to make sure that he hadn't just imagined their entire encounter.

There were so many questions he had for her and Derek, but she was right—now wasn't the time. He had to go get his wife back.

**TBC…**

**A/N:** There will be at least one more chapter. Let me know what you think.

**Reviews Are Always Welcome! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** There aren't any flashbacks in this chapter, but stressed words and thoughts are in italics. This is the last chapter, so enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned LWD, Derek would do the Link Wink at least three times per episode.

OOOOOOOO

Stepping into her home after a long day of work, the last thing Emily had expected was for all the lights to be off. She told herself not to worry, but her children should've been home; school was out for the day and neither of them was due in at their jobs. The lights being off didn't necessarily mean that nobody was home, but Emily knew her kids—they didn't know how to walk into a room without automatically turning the light on. She had begun to dig in her pocket for her cell phone when she saw someone moving in the dark.

"Who's there?" she asked. There was the slightest trace of fear in her voice.

"You know," a familiar voice called out in the darkness, "the fact that you didn't change the locks tells me something."

Emily followed the sound of the voice to the living room and switched on the light. She was met by the sight of her husband lounging on the couch.

"What does the restraining order I got against you tell you?" she asked, annoyance coloring her voice.

"You haven't gotten a restraining order against me," he responded, sounding a little less confidant than before.

"Yet," she clarified. "Now get out before I call the police—

"And tell them what? That I used my keys to unlock the door to a house that _I'm_ paying the mortgage on and let myself in?"

"You're such an ass! You know that, right?" She rolled her eyes. "You offered to continue to help pay the bills, but make no mistake, I won't take any more money from you," she snapped.

Sam sighed; this wasn't the way he wanted this to go. He was supposed to be winning her back, not pissing her off further.

"I'm happy to help out. Don't be like that," he said, referring to her scowl.

"Then stop being like that," she shot back. "Ugh, why are you even here? And where are my kids?"

Sam groaned inwardly _She's starting to refer to the children as "my kids"—that's never a good sign. _

"_Our_ kids are spending the night at my parent's house."

"Since when?"

"Since I told them that I wanted to spend some time alone with you."

Lauren had been easy to get rid of; it was obvious that she wanted Sam and Emily to reconcile as much as Sam did. But Tony had been harder to convince; he wanted the details of Sam's plan before he left. His disappointment was obvious when he found out that Sam planned to wing it.

"You shouldn't have wasted your breath; this is going to be a _very_ short meeting."

"Emily, come on," he cut in, rising from the couch.

But she held up a hand to silence him. "No. Don't you get it? I kicked you out because I don't want to see you." She started to tear up, and Sam reached for her, but she backed away from his touch. "It's bad enough that I can't make myself fall out of love with you even though I know that you have feelings for another woman. But having to see you"—she choked on a sob—"having to see you makes it worse."

"You don't understand," he tried to tell her, but she interrupted him again.

"Sam, please, just _stop_ it." She reached for her purse and picked it up off the chair. "Now, I'm going to go upstairs and lie down for a while. And if you care about me at all you'll be gone by the time I come back down."

She sounded so upset that Sam seriously considered leaving, just so he could put her out of her misery. But, he kept hearing Casey's voice in his head, saying, "Well keep trying,"—he couldn't give up now, if he did he would always regret it.

"I kissed Casey," he blurted out, when Emily was halfway up the stairs.

Emily stopped cold, but didn't turn around. Sam could see her tighten her hold on her purse strap; it was as if she was trying to clamp down on her emotions.

"I kissed her"—he exhaled loudly—"and I hated it," he elaborated.

Emily turned around and latched her gaze onto him, but she didn't make any move towards him and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking from the blank expression on her face. She looked at him expectantly, if not encouragingly, so he continued.

"I'm not going to lie to you: I always thought that if I ever kissed Casey again it would be like this big earth-shattering-mountain-moving thing. But it wasn't." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, searching for the right words. "The image that I had of Casey in my mind was a fantasy; I just didn't realize that until she kissed me. You"—he started walking towards the stairs—"are my reality. You are the one I want."

"Why did you still love her?" she asked suddenly.

That had not been what Sam had expected her to say. He wasn't really sure that he even understood exactly what she was asking, so he just raised his eyebrow in her direction.

"Even after you 'fell in love with me'"—she used air quotes—"at least part of you heart still belonged to her, right?" Having vowed not to lie to her anymore, Sam nodded reluctantly. "Why? This was a woman who cheated on you with your _best_ friend. Why on earth would you still want her?"

"You never wanted Derek back after you knew what they did?"

"No. I never did."

Despite the seriousness of their conversation, Sam gave a slight smile at just how strong of a woman his wife was.

"Well, I guess you're a tougher person than I am," he said, but there was no bitterness in his voice only admiration. "I had planned my entire future around Casey," he said, attempting to explain. "She was the center of my world, and I couldn't picture my life without her. When I found out about her and Derek I was furious and hurt; I literally wanted to kill Derek. He knew how much I loved her- how many times had I told him? But with Casey…"

"You blamed him for all of it, didn't you?" she asked, realization dawning on her. "You thought, and maybe still think, that he initiated it. You think that Derek seduced her?" she asked incredulously. In her opinion, neither of them was any guiltier than the other. However, Casey's part in it did hurt a little more, because they had been friends long before she had started dating Derek.

Sam shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know what to think anymore. But back then, when I first found out, I was willing to forgive _her_. She was my life, and I couldn't imagine living without her."

"And now?" she asked, voice trembling.

"Now I feel the same way about you. But with you it's even more intense, because I _have_ been living without you and I'm _miserable_.

He sounded so earnest that Emily had to stop herself from running down the stairs and hugging him.

"Sam," she said, only to be interrupted.

"I am miserable," he repeated. "You, Tony, Lauren, you guys are my life now. Yes, I lied to you, a lot. Yes, I lied about being in love with you in the beginning. But I am telling the truth now." He got down on his knees, kneeling before the steps. "Emily, I'm begging you, please take me back. Can't we just pick up where we left off?"

"We left off in an awful place," she said, shaking her head. "Our marriage wasn't good. Whether you meant to or not, you were constantly hurting me and our kids. I don't"—she wiped impatiently at her eyes—"_don't_ want to go back there."

"Then let's start over," he suggested frantically, desperately, as he stood. "We can go as slow as you want. It'll be like redoing our entire relationship."

She eyed him skeptically. "Like what- go out on dates and stuff? Like we were never married?"

"Exactly." He was really starting to warm up to this idea; it could actually work. Emily may have sounded skeptical, but she wasn't flat out rejecting the plan and Sam took that as a good sign. "We'll have a weekly date on Saturdays, or something. I'll do everything right this time, I swear. I know that you can't forget the past and how I've hurt you, but let me try to fix things. _Please_."

She looked poised to retort, but Sam kept speaking.

"Emily Davis,"—he was laying it on thick by using her maiden name, but he had to pull out all the stops—"will you go out with me Saturday?"

Emily was still hurt, and she was mad as hell at Sam. But, God help her, she loved him. Dropping her purse, she ran down the few stairs that separated them and threw her self in his arms.

Grinning widely, she simply said, "yes."

OOOOOOOO

Two months had passed, and technically Emily still should have been grinning. Every date she had with Sam had been better than the last. They went to silly movies that were marketed towards teenagers, ate out at cheap burger joints, and walked through the park. Sam wasn't trying to impress her or trick her into a relationship again; this time around everything was pure. Everything was real. So really Emily _should've_ been wearing the same smile that she'd had on her face since the day she jumped in his arms, but instead she was frowning, and frowning _hard_.

Lauren watched her mother stomp towards the coat hook and retrieve her jacket. Glancing at her watch, she eyed her mother in confusion.

"Mom, isn't it a little early for one of your dates?"

Lauren had to admit that she found the fact that her parents were separated but went on weekly dates a little odd, but if it would get her father back into the house sooner then she was all for it.

"Argh," she fairly growled, "I wish I was going out with your father."

"Well then where are you going?"

"To meet Casey," she said unenthusiastically. "She called this morning asking me to meet her for coffee—

"And you agreed?" Lauren asked in disbelief.

"I know- what was I thinking, right?" Lauren nodded in agreement. "It was pure stupid curiosity. I really can't fathom why she would want to talk to me."

"She can't possibly think that you two are friends now, can she?"

"I don't know what goes through that woman's head. Maybe she wants me to thank her in person," Emily guessed, shrugging.

"Will you?"

Emily didn't even have to think about her answer. "Don't get me wrong, I _don't_ like Casey. I will thank her, though, and I'll mean it. She did me a favor, and even though it doesn't even begin to put a real dent in the debt she has with me, she didn't have to help me at all. So . . . I guess I _am_ going to thank her."

"If that's what you think is best then I guess that's what you should do," Lauren said, supporting her mother's decision, but still sounding a little unsure.

"Don't sound so worried"—she opened the front door—"I probably won't even be gone that long."

Lauren started to lighten up- _they probably won't even exchange more than five words_. "I'm not worried. But I hope you've prepared yourself for an incredibly awkward encounter."

"It can't be any more awkward than our last encounter," Emily said wryly.

"Well, have fun," Lauren said, chuckling.

"Ha ha," Emily said, rolling her eyes at her daughter before leaving.

Leaning back into the couch, Lauren couldn't help but sigh contentedly- _life was good_. Her mother was going to make semi-peace with her arch enemy; her parents were happy again; even her brother had begun to unwind. Yup, her life _was_ good; she just hoped that everyone else out in the world was just as happy as she was.

**The End!**

**A/N:** If you're reading this then you probably stuck with me and my fic until the bitter end, and I'd just like to say, thank you for that. This is the first multi-chapter fanfic that I've completed (notice I wrote "completed" not "started") and that is due largely to the feedback that I've gotten- the encouraging words provided by you guys kept me updating.

**IMPORTANT:** I purposely left the ending sorta open. I was thinking about writing a sequel/companion piece that would be set up a lot like this fic, but it would focus on Derek and Casey and their past. Sam and especially Emily would be in the story, but they wouldn't be the center. Let me know what you guys think of that idea.

**Reviews Are Always Welcome!**


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